


Inherent Evil

by Persephonne



Category: Original Work
Genre: Conspiracy, Demons, F/M, M/M, Mystery, Paranormal Investigators, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-12 05:34:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3345446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persephonne/pseuds/Persephonne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel Pryde, Hell's most underrated demon, starts working on a case that might shake Hell's very foundations and reveal an infernal conspiracy.<br/>If evil is indeed inherent on humans and both demons and angels start developing free will, is there really anything that differentiates the three races?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

Daniel Pryde is not your average private investigator. He might look like one, with his long black overcoat, black shoes, black pants, white shirt and ever-present cigarette, but then you take a closer look, close enough to notice his blood-red eyes, vampire-like fangs, and the small and somewhat charming horns on the top of his forehead that were always partially hidden by his dark hair. And the tail. The tail is a good clue too. Once you've noticed all that, you will realize that Daniel is far from being average. Or human at all, for that matter. (Though many women could tell you they don't mind those details at all) But he is still a private investigator. He is Hell's official investigator too, but it doesn't keep him from from taking non-official cases every now and then.

He also doesn't work in a dark, smelly office. He works and lives in a junkyard. In his very own, private container that was left there a few decades ago. All Daniel had to do was to hire a good designer and everything was set for him.

Also, Daniel is british. An english demon, living in London. As british as it gets, with tea, fish 'n chips, accent and bad mood. But not the bad teeth. He doesn't like stereotypes.

There is also his 1958 black conversible Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special and his dark crystal sword, forged in infernal flames. Those were his most prized possessions and if anyone dared to touch them, it's more than likely that Daniel will make one of his rare but deadly displays of demonic power. Which would make him probably let his hidden wings free from its confines of flesh. But that's for later.

He also has an emotional baggage heavy enough to knock down an elephant. Great part of it it's associated with a certain red-headed girl. But then again, that's another story. Another big part of it is associated – much like it happens with a lot of us – with his family and childhood/teenage years. Him, being a thirty five year-old demon, tries his best to keep those memories – as well as the rest of his nasty emotional baggage – on a very secure, dark, hidden and forgotten spot of his mind.

But, just like any other pile of dirty clothes, it won't go away magically. And the worse part is that it keeps poking you every now and then, when you least want to think about it, just reminding you that it won't get washed by itself.

And those pokes tend to be very, very nerve-wrecking for a demon.


	2. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So to the... 5 people who are reading this, sorry it took so long, I didn't have internet for the past few weeks. Leave reviews, please

1

  
"So why exactly are we here?" Daniel asked as he sat across the seemingly 17 year old boy, lighting a cigarette while his face held an irritated and bored expression.

The boy, who, in fact was not even human, but the very ancient and somewhat famous demon Belphegor, looked around excitedly before dismissing his friend with a wave of his hand, showing he wasn't really paying attention to what the other was saying. Though he replied.

"We're gonna see the Sin Eater."

Daniel couldn't help but to cock an eyebrow at Belphegor, who in these modern days called himself Eddie.

"The Sin Eater? Which one? That one you were supposed to kill?"

Eddie looked back at Daniel and nodded, giving him a sly grin. That was enough to make the fellow demon understand. "Aw, come on, Ed. You were supposed to kill him! Unless you're planning on causing him a heart attack, I can't see how shagging the guy will help."

Eddie merely shrugged, looking around once more before fixing his dark eyes back on Daniel.

"Sod off, Aethe. You're breaking the rules all the time too. Why can't I have some fun? Plus, if you were gonna get killed, wouldn't you rather you'd receive some pleasure right before you die? I'm a demon but I'm not a complete arsehole."

Daniel shook his head and took a drag of his cigarette, though Eddie had a good point. They were sitting at a rounded table in a club, one of those clubs where angels, demons, and everything in between could go and not cause any trouble with each other.

"Okay, fair enough. What I don't get is, why am I here? You want him to meet the family too?" Daniel asked, grinning and flashing his fangs. Eddie rolled his eyes and shook his head, and Daniel wondered for the hundredth time if being confined in a human seventeen year old body for 150 years had made Eddie start acting and thinking like one.

"Can't I invite my best friend in a lovely dinner? I wanted someone to keep me company if he didn't show up."

Daniel frowned as he tried to understand Eddie's logic, but failed miserably. So he just took another drag of his cigarette.

"And for how long have you been shagging him?" He asked, looking around the club for a second.

"Two weeks, kinda. It wasn't that hard seducing him, since it's my job and all. Plus, the guy takes people's sins for a living, I didn't think he'd be very bothered in fucking a seventeen year old guy. Or a demon, for that matter." The boy laughed and sipped his drink, looking around again and sighing. Daniel was rather pleased at seeing the other's impatience.

"Why so edgy, Bel? I dunno why you brought me here if you know you won't get in my pants." He smirked at his friend. Eddie merely laughed and shook his head.

"I wouldn't fuck you even you paid me. And I'm not edgy. I'm just impatient. And yes, I know I'm taking too long to kill him. But sod it, y'know? I thought I'd have some fun while doing so. Maybe I'll just snap his neck while he comes. Quick, painless, and at least he'll go to Hell happy."

Daniel laughed harder this time, nodding at Eddie's logic.

"Makes sense. You are such an humanitarian."

Belphegor just shrugged at that, sighing again.

"You have only been around here for less than half a century. I've been here for millennia. And 150 years in this body. I'm not complaining, but fucking hell, have you ever tried being an hormonal teen for that long?"

"I was one for a few years and I'd much rather not remember it. So I believe I kind of understand."

Eddie scoffed and shook his head.

"Like fuck you understand. You were born, like, yesterday."

"Did you bring me here and forced me to keep you company so you can whine about your adolescent body?" Daniel asked, raising his eyebrows and taking another drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke out through his nose.

Eddie sighed again and shook his head, looking around once more.

"No. Some of the big guys asked me to give you a message."

Daniel unconsciously cringed, he never liked receiving messages from his superiors. They either meant he had to work, or that he was in trouble.

"And? Am I fucked?"

"Nah. Looks like you got a gig. I..." But Eddie stopped talking when he spotted the figure in black a few feet away from them. "Fucking finally! Geez, what's up with humans and clocks? Why did they invent time if they're always late?"

Daniel was annoyed at the sudden halt in the conversation, but couldn't help but chuckle at Eddie's words.

"You seem overly excited in seeing him. I thought you had to kill him, and not start fancying him."

Eddie glared at his demonic companion before waving at the Sin Eater, motioning to him to come over. "Keep it the fuck down, Daniel. Blimey, no need to tell the whole world. And well, you know. He's got so many sins already, why not adding a few more? Make him happy before he goes and all."

As the human began approaching their table, Eddie hissed at Daniel: "You gotta leave now, obviously. I promise I'll try to finish the job tonight, if there's the right moment, kay? And I'll talk to you about your gig tomorrow."

Daniel just shrugged and kept smoking, looking up at the human when he stood beside them at the table. He looked overly serious. Daniel smiled shortly while Eddie grinned and started blabbing.

"This is Daniel Pryde, a friend of mine. Daniel, this is Michael. The guy I was telling you about. And Daniel, don't you have to do that thing?.."

Daniel almost laughed at Eddie's face, and nodded before getting up, smiling at Michael.

"Yes, yes I do. You know how it is, when we have to do things." The demon grinned at Eddie, who was now glaring at him. Daniel nodded a polite goodbye to the two of them and left the club, lighting another cigarette.

Eddie felt bad as he laid on his bed later that night, the Sin Eater on top of him, all of his elegant composure vanished. That guy knew what would happen. He had to know. And yet, the demon felt bad. It wasn't exactly remorse, because it was a human feeling, but it was more like reluctance. But, there was nothing he could do. They had told him, 'kill the sin eater'. So now he had a dagger hidden under his pillow, waiting for the right moment.

The demon moaned a few times as he enjoyed the particularities of that human body he was using, the pleasure spreading all over his nerves. He could see the man above him was almost reaching his peak as well, so Eddie had to watch for the perfect moment. He didn't want the other to feel pain. He was going to feel it for all eternity, so why not give him a slack on his death?

Michael closed his eyes and shivered, and Eddie sneaked one hand under his pillow to grasp the dagger. He'd done that same movement so many times before over the past two weeks, and he always faltered. He always thought 'one more time can't hurt'. But he knew it could. So now he waited until the exact time, when Michael released himself inside the human-shaped demon, and with a quick movement Eddie slit the Sin Eater's throat.

The blood washed his own face as the human laid dead over him, and Eddie sighed as he moved the body to the side. He didn't want the blood to pour all over his sheets, but he also didn't want to just dump the guy on the floor. Plus, the sheets were hopeless anyway, so he let the human lay on his bed, already dead.

Belphegor didn't say anything. He wanted to say he was sorry, but he didn't know what it meant to feel sorry, so he just got up from the bed, still feeling his own arousal aching between his legs, and headed to the bathroom to get into his bathtub and get rid of the blood. The erection would fade away in time.

That's why he was putting this off, he thought as he looked at himself with a sigh. Because he knew he wouldn't have the opportunity to finish himself off in time. And when it was too late, he wouldn't feel like it anymore. Yep. That was the only reason, he kept telling himself.


	3. 2

2

 

Daniel sighed as he stared out the closed window of his apartment, the thick rain drops flowing down his window. A cigarette rested between his thin lips, suffering from the lack of contact with its owner and resigned to burning by itself. Until the demon decided to take a long drag, feeling the smoke that was harmless to his non-human body flowing down his airways, flooding his lungs and doing its path all over again until it was unleashed to fade away in the air.

 

He was thinking about what Eddie had told him. Another gig. Another infernal job. Another chance to prove his value to demons that until a few years ago treated him as if he was rat shit. All for what? Loosing who he loved, his friends, even his free will just so he could be considered a full demon.

 

He tried to push away the thoughts, the memories that now flooded his mind. Memories of that one girl he loved like no other. The girl he'd killed.

 

Daniel jumped, a little startled, when his phone started ringing. Placing the cigarette between his lips he picked it up, taking another drag before answering "Pryde." Though contrary to his fears, the voice on the other end actually made him smile. A little bit, at least.

 

"I did it."

 

There was something strange about Eddie's voice, though. Something sad. Which was weird. Then Daniel noticed there had been something strange about the way the demon had looked at the Sin Eater earlier.

 

"Good boy." He said, his own voice suddenly a little grim. "Are you okay?"

 

"I guess. I dunno. It's weird.." He heard Belphegor sighing. "I, um... I felt bad."

 

He said it as if it was a taboo, something forbidden. Which was, in a way. Daniel thought for a second, biting his lip before saying.

 

"Did you like him?"

 

"I dunno. I guess. Maybe? I'm not sure what people call 'liking' these days. All I know is that I didn't want to do it." There was a slight pause, and as Daniel heard Eddie's shaky breathing it was as though he was there with his friend. He knew exactly what was going on in the other's head. "Daniel... I shouldn't not want to do anything. We don't have free will!" The last part was a hushed, desperate whisper, and Daniel sighed heavily.

 

"I know. But I think it's okay to feel these feelings. You didn't want to do it but you did it anyway, right? Because you were told to do it."

 

"Yea.." Eddie sighed again. And Daniel heard the question he'd been fearing to hear. "How did it feel? Back with Rhaine?"

 

The demon sighed again, looking out the rainy scenario outside his place. He hadn't figured out yet. He didn't know how did he came to love that girl as if she was his own daughter. Maybe it was because he was still half demon. So he told Eddie that.

 

"Yea. Maybe.." The other demon sighed again. "Maybe it's the body, y'know? I'm using a human body, after all. Maybe the brain is getting in the way. Maybe I should just get laid."

 

"Maybe." Daniel forced out a chuckle, though he noticed Eddie's sad tone. "Come over, yea? Maybe I can find a way to cheer you up."

 

"Really?" He could practically hear Eddie smiling. "Will I.."

 

"As long as we both keep our clothes on, it's all good."

 

"You're no fun, Aethe." Eddie said and Daniel laughed before telling the other to come over and bring booze.

 

In less than an hour Daniel found himself playing a very wicked version of golf that involved crushed aluminium cans and old thin pipes with Eddie. The fellow demon was trying to concentrate in hitting a good shot and talk to Daniel at the same time.

 

"So.." Eddie said, as he calculated how far he could throw the small can. Daniel raised his eyebrows at him.

 

"So?"

 

"I, um..." He bit his lip and took the shot, the can flying far away. "Wow, did you see that? Damn."

 

"I believe you came here to get drunk and talk about your situation with the sin eater, no?" The demon interrupted him, his eyebrows still raised. Getting a 17 year old shaped demon to talk about his feelings was not an easy task.

 

Eddie stopped and sighed, staring ahead of him for a while before sighing again. "I guess I really did like him. He was a good fuck and I dunno.. he just got me, y'know?" He bit his lip for a while before looking back at Daniel. "He didn't mind the fact that I'm a demon. He didn't mind anything. And then I killed him. Why? What for?" Eddie shook his head and stared out in the night again, falling silent for a while. "Because I'm a soldier. Because it's what I do. Because someone in a higher position told me to do it. So I did it, even though I didn't want to."

 

"Maybe you can still see him. Down stairs." He shrugged. "We both know it's not so bad for human souls. So maybe you could meet him."

 

Eddie looked at Daniel and gave a bitter laugh, motioning at himself. "Hi, bound to adolescent body for who the fuck knows how long? I can't go down. Plus, they're already wanting my head anyway." He sighed, looking away once more.

 

That last part caught Daniel's attention, and he cocked an eyebrow at the other demon. "What do you mean?"

 

Eddie suddenly looked very, very tired. He sighed yet again and shrugged. "It won't be long until they realize what this body is doing to me, Aethe. I'm thinking like a human, acting like one... And the fucking free will! We've always been told we don't have free will. Ever since Creation. And fuck me, it's true. I slit his throat even though I didn't want to. But still, I didn't want to! I openly didn't want to follow an order! Can't you see how... idiotic this is?"

 

Daniel frowned for a second after his friend said that, thinking about the matter. Well, he had plenty of free will. He could do whatever he wanted, anyway. Unless when he received orders, but then... he just followed them. That's when it started to make sense. He looked back at Eddie.

 

"Maybe you're right. I really don't know. But you followed the order, didn't you?"

 

"And now I'm questioning it!" Eddie whispered, almost as if they could be overheard. "And I'm kinda scared. Am I becoming an human?"

 

"Of course you're not. You're a demon in a human suit. A girl doesn't magically become a guy if she wears masculine clothes."

 

"That's bullshit and you know it." Eddie spat, his reddish eyes getting brighter. Daniel was a little taken aback, for he realized his best friend had a very good point. "It's just a matter of time until the big guys start noticing this. And fuck, can't you see? I'm scared! Scared, Daniel! Fear is a human feature!"

 

Daniel was becoming more and more uneasy with all of that, specially with the prospect of losing Eddie. But yet he shook his head and smirked, his fangs showing.

 

"You are Belphegor. You're related to humans by nature. You helped them make so many discoveries so far. You're like a muse! Of course you'll feel more than comfortable in a human body. You're the Lord of The Opening. So calm down. Your teenage brain is making you stressed. And I'm sorry you won't be able to see your boy in a while. Now, do you want to get smashed? Even if it only works for five minutes?" Daniel grinned at Eddie and pulled him into an unexpected hug. "Just be cool, okay?"

 

Eddie nodded a little as he hugged Daniel back, and sighed. "Let's get fucking hammered. And if while I'm drunk I try to blow you... try considering it." He chuckled and Daniel was a little relieved to hear the other laugh.

 

"In your dreams, kid." He laughed and let go of Eddie, shoving him playfully. "So tell me about this Sin Eater. Any idea why Hell wanted him dead?" Daniel asked, though he was still a little concerned as to if he should talk about the guy. But Eddie shrugged.

 

"I told you already. Sin Eaters are considered a cheat from the people upstairs. They can damn or save people according to their own desires. And most of the time they send the souls to Heaven. It could be the worse living person, but if a Sin Eater eats their sins before they die, they go to heaven. Tell me if this isn't cheating?"

 

"There are no rules in the celestial game." Daniel said, though he nodded. "But you're right. Though don't most of these people live knowing that you just have to repent and your soul is good as new again?"

 

Eddie chuckled, looking up at Daniel and showing his own small fangs when he smiled. "Oh, please. I thought you were smarter than that. Humans really, really wanna believe that all they have to do is say a few words, claim they repent and it's all good. But the repent business only goes if the person is madly, desperately, insanely, wanting to kill herself from regret, ya know?"

 

He nodded a little, thinking about that. Eddie kept talking though, distractedly. "And it's not like we don't cheat either. We're demons, for fuck's sake." He laughed, and that fact perked Daniel's attention.

 

"We do? Cheat, I mean? How?"

 

Then all the sudden, Eddie looked like he had just said too much. Only for a split second, before smiling again with his usual carefree self. Though the other demon noticed that faltering. It was hard for him to miss these things.

 

"Oh, you know. Tempting and all. Plus, we're obviously winning." Eddie laughed, throwing his makeshift club away and motioning towards Daniel's container-house. "I still don't get why you live in a junk yard."

 

"I like the view." Daniel shrugged and walked back inside with his friend. "So, what was the assignment they're giving me now?" He asked, going to his kitchen to fetch a bottle of scotch before going back to the living room, laying on the couch and opening the bottle. Eddie was just sitting on the chair, looking at the fellow demon.

 

"Nothing much. Some halfbreed's been causing some trouble in Cardiff. You know how those can get if they loose control." Eddie said and Daniel frowned a little, tempted to remind the other that he himself was a 'halfbreed' not too long ago. Eddie kept talking though. "They just want you to go there and see what's the deal. If you can talk to the guy, try convincing him into becoming a pure blood. If he's too damaged already, off him. Kay?"

 

Daniel sighed and nodded slowly, trying not to remember what it was like when he had to struggle with the beast within himself. Back when he was still half-demon. Halfbreed. He was also not very fond of the idea of killing the guy just because he maybe didn't find a way to live with the demonic side, but orders were orders.

 

He looked at Eddie and took a large swig of the scotch, grinning. "Fuck, with all the places in the world, did it have to be in Cardiff?" He laughed and handed the other the bottle, hoping they could drown and hide away their frustrations in liquor.

 

Just like humans did.


	4. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slowly recovering from a massive author's block

Cardiff was, indeed, a shithole. Daniel didn’t want to go there, and especially didn’t want to play marketer for some halfbreed just so he could assume his rightful place in hell, and all that. And he definitely didn’t like the fact that he would have to kill the guy if he was too far gone to be able to choose.

He wondered why didn’t anyone come hunting him back when he was a halfbreed. Maybe because of his little trick with the blood? Maybe because they were manipulating him for something else? Maybe they’d just forgotten about him? Either way, it didn’t matter now, did it? Though something else was bothering him still.

Eddie had mentioned cheating the celestial game. Though said game had no rules. Or rather, the higher ups liked to pretend there were, to make the whole thing easier to control.

He had no address, no nothing to go on to find the halfbreed. Luckily, he could simply follow the path of destruction, since whoever it was, it was apparently making a mess big enough to gain the attention of the other demons. That, and demons knew how to find each other. He’d just have to pick up on demonic energy and follow it.

So he did. Focused his own energy into finding similar structures in a certain radius, looking for anything out of the usual. The usual being human, in that case. There was nothing at first, and Daniel was starting to worry he’d been given the wrong information, which would make him incredibly pissed off, but then he felt it – for a flicker of a second, the energy he knew so well already. It was weak at first, but then it slowly started to get stronger. Somehow the kid had detected him as well, and better yet, he could control his own energy enough to not be detected so easily.

So Daniel made his way to the nearest newsstand to check on the local paper. The halfbreed was still figuring out what was happening to him, so he was bound to make a mess. Mostly, involving fires and weird occurrences and accidents. At least that’s what happened to him, back when he was discovering what he was.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment while he walked. It seemed ridiculous and stupid how much he was letting himself be governed by rules he didn’t even understand now that he was a full blooded demon. It was like his brain was wired differently. He didn’t have free will anymore, he was acting like some kind of soldier. Though technically, that’s exactly what he was. He didn’t command any legions (yet), but there was a desire in his heart to move his rank up. Like a common soldier would. And yet…

The conversation he’d had with Eddie before came back to his memory. Something was happening to them, and he had no idea what it was. They were demons, for fuck’s sake. They thrived in chaos and the human faults. But somehow, he wasn’t feeling so much like he needed to make a massive effort to make sure the humans would let that tiny voice suggesting them of bad things was more than a mere suggestion and was indeed acted on.

He was never a big fan of doing that in the first place, but after he’d accepted his true self and became a full blooded demon he’d done his share of mischief, more than once using his new powers to make people analyse situations better, and decide that the better option was to think firstly of themselves instead of what’s good for others. Daniel himself wasn’t a big fan of these said powers, but it was part of the job. He had no choice but to do it, it was who he was now.

But lately, he’d started second guessing these orders even more than usual. Sometimes even feeling something similar to guilt. And that made no sense. Like Eddie had said, that was a human emotion, and they weren’t humans. So what was going on there?

There was a feeling in his gut that he didn’t enjoy it. The feeling that something was off, but for some reason no one was interested in finding out why and how exactly. But Daniel knew, right down to his core, that he would end up having to be the one to find out the truth.


	5. 4

Eventually, he found the kid. It wasn’t particularly hard, considering the flat he was in had caught fire. Not only that, the coppers had received a long list of calls from that apartment building over the past month, concerning complaints of weird noises, lights going out all the time, and other various occurrences. A number of those complaints were of people claiming the third floor was haunted. They were sort of right, in a way.

Daniel arrived at the building to find a small crowd gathered at the front, along with a police car and the firemen. He looked up at the apartment that was apparently still burning, despite the firemen’s efforts, and asked a guy who was standing next to him what had happened there, though he had a feeling he already knew.

“Well it’s obvious, innit?” He man said, still looking up. “Some arsehole forgot the kettle on or something and his place burned to bits.”

Daniel nodded, reminding himself of how useless people could be. And what was it with their obsession of crowding up to watch chaos and destruction? He supposed he shouldn’t really be surprised, considering the human race’s had a long history of making a party out of watching other people’s lives be destroyed.

He kept asking around, and managed to comb through the useless replies until he got the information he was after. The building’s manager eventually told him, the apartment belonged to a young man who moved there about two years ago. Apparently he young man was nice, quiet, paid the rent on time, wasn’t too sociable, no one really knew him all that well. Until two months ago, when the building was victim of weird occurrences such as light bulbs exploding, random fires at various apartments, the lights going off every now and then. And as the cherry on the cake, the building manager told Daniel that all of that nonsense only happened in the apartments that were located near the young man’s apartment. Daniel then asked the manager what was the guy’s name, and the man took the opportunity to go on a full-on fit of rage.

“Chris Finley, and if you find him, tell that sod that he’s going to pay for all of the damage he’s done to the building, yea? And that if I see his face ‘round here again…”   

“Oy, do I look like a messenger to you?” Daniel all but barked, before turning around and walking away from all the fuss.

At least he had a name now, that would make things a bit easier for him. He walked until he found a somewhat peaceful spot near the building and closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on that name and the energy flowing around the place, since most people in the crowd knew who lived in that apartment and were probably blaming him for the fire. That energy was good, it would help him have a fixed point to focus on, and that would lead to the kid’s specific energy signature.

Daniel liked his new abilities, but they could get tiring from time to time. He wasn’t a scout for possible full blooded demons, but he could feel their energy, since said energy was bubbling up inside those poor souls who didn’t know how to deal with what was happening to them. It looked a lot like adolescence, and he wasn’t all that into dealing with that, to be honest. He already had to deal with one demon stuck in a teenage body and that was more than enough for him, thank you very much.

He kept focusing on that name, and the energy flowing through the place, until he found a very specific one. Fear. Not just any fear, it was a more primal fear, the fear of being hunted. It looked like Daniel had a winner, after all. He smirked a little and started walking fast, following that same energy as it got stronger and stronger. If he was a werewolf he bet he would be able to smell the fear the kid was giving off. He walked faster, until the energy hit a peak, right at the entrance of a nearby alley. And there he was, Chris Finley, with his back against the alley wall, eyes closed, no doubt praying. Oh, the irony.

“It’s really dumb to stick around the scene of the crime, you know.” Daniel said, before lighting a cigarette and taking a drag.

The kid jumped when he heard his voice, looking at Daniel and seeming genuinely frightened and panicked.

“Please! Are you a copper? I had nothing to do with that, I swear it. It kind of just… happened. A gas leak or something.” Chris spoke, looking at Daniel with pure fear in his eyes. The demon sighed, thinking back to when he was in that stage of shit happening to him for no reason and him not understanding what was going on.

“Do I look like I’m the bloody police?” He asked, looking at the kid and leaning his head to the side, to undo the cloaking trick he’d learned to use when walking around in public. Thankfully, his true form wasn’t as grotesque as some of the other demons he knew, so he only had the pair of horns on the top of his forehead and the tail. And technically wings, but those could stay hidden from the kid.

Chris jumped when he saw it, and Daniel sighed as the kid went on with the usual route he usually got when people saw him for who he was, with the questions, and asking if it was a trick, and all that. Humans really could be tiring at times. Well, most of the times.

“Yea yea, I hear you. Not a trick, not a costume, and something tells me you know exactly what I am.” He said, taking a drag from his cigarette, his blood-coloured eyes glinting a bit. “So unless you want to really meet a policeman, I suggest we piss off here and get as far away as possible. I’ll explain everything.”

Chris hesitated for a moment, looking at Daniel with narrowed eyes.

“What if you’re some kind of perv or a psycho?” He asked, lifting his chin a bit in defiance. That made Daniel laugh and toss his cigarette away, before letting a bright reddish orange flame engulf his fist as he lifted his hand to make a point.

“I’m not. Now move and follow me.” He spoke, his voice sounding like razors before the fire disappeared and started the cloaking trick again as he walked out of the alleyway. He didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know that the kid was following him.

He really hated that part of the job.

***


	6. 5

5

 

Daniel remembered the days when he was a halfbreed demon, and proud of it. Proud not of his demonic side, but his human one. He didn’t want to be a creature of pure evil, meant solely to make humans perform foul acts. He fought his darker urges, thoughts and actions with everything he had at the time, using everything he could think of to keep the evil inside of him suppressed. He even went on an elaborate scheme to inject himself with human blood, to thin his own.

None of that worked. The pain, the sacrifice was too much greater than the benefits. He’d been an idealist, about everything concerning himself, Heaven and Hell. And even Earth. Specially Earth. He thought he could do good there, ignore his other side, thought that if he fought hard enough, maybe he could be more similar to humans and not end up as a slave to Hell’s whims.

As it happens with most idealists, he eventually let go of these thoughts when he realized there was no point in doing anything to stop himself from being… himself. It wasn’t worth it. He became a realist when he realized that most humans didn’t really need that extra push to do evil, and that the whole Hell and Heaven ‘war’ was nothing more than two competing companies. They liked to make it sound like it was something of grand importance, but in reality that’s what it was.

Yes, demons helped humans succumb to those urges and needs to perform evil deeds, the same way angels were supposed to inspire them to good things. But all these thoughts, urges and needs are already there in the human minds. And they weren’t always successful in that. Sometimes, (or lately, most times) humans managed to ignore those extra pushes and just do whatever suited them best. Ego, that’s what drove humans these days.

Plus, angels and demons had egos as well. Maybe, Daniel pondered, even more than humans did. Angels weren’t bound to only make humans do good, they did many other things, as well. Not always good things. But always in the defense of their own interests. The same thing happened with demons, which on rare occasions saw that their bigger interests demanded the eventual small good action to get to outcome that was ultimately bad.

Daniel wondered what differentiated angels and demons from humans, these days. Not much, but something was changing, as Eddie had pointed out. This shouldn’t be happening, they were bound to follow their orders, with no way to act different from it. They shouldn’t even be questioning their orders, the inbred lack of free will prevented that from happening. But yet, there he was, questioning what was going on with them. There Eddie was, feeling _regret_ from having killed a human. For selfish reasons, sure, but it was still regret. And Daniel was wondering if maybe the kid who was sitting in front of him at the pub they were at was better left to decide for himself what he wanted to be. Plus, the human greed and need for power, their selfish way of wanting everything to be done the easier way would probably push the kid’s decision to what Hell wanted, anyway.

Well, that and there was the fact that Daniel would rather be in his flat at that moment, working on his computer and making a lot of money suddenly appear in random people’s bank accounts so they would decide if they would keep it or not, instead of being in bloody Wales, of all places. Cardiff was, after all, a shithole.

He explained most of that story/philosophical musing to Chris while they sat at the pub. The halfbreed wasn’t drinking any alcohol, probably out of fear of something else happening that would turn his day into even bigger shitfest than it already was. Daniel couldn’t get drunk even if he wanted to, so the pair of them resolved for having the ultimate british cliché: tea.

“So basically, I can do whatever I want?” Chris asked, hesitantly while he took a drink of his earl grey. Daniel rolled his eyes. There was an anger bubbling up inside him, that he didn’t fully understand. Nor did he like it. He was angry at Chris, for being so stupid and for even considering becoming a full blooded demon. Angry at himself for a multitude of reasons, the main ones being the regret for past actions concerning a certain red headed girl and having to cave in to the pressure and become a full blooded demon (again with the human emotion. He should really look into that soon), the knowledge that he was unable to tell Chris to choose his human side. And angry at the bureaucratic system that was Heaven and Hell, with all the idiotic laws and bindings.

“No, the opposite of that, actually.” He said, glaring at the man sitting across from him at the table. “You need to choose now, or things will only get worse for you from now on. If you don’t choose, the next one Hell’s going to send won’t have my sunny personality and charisma.” Daniel pointed out, looking at Chris with an expression that showed how happy he was about the whole thing. Which was, not at all.

The young man looked confused, probably from the ultimatum Daniel had just given him. The demon was kicking himself mentally for not being able to tell the halfbreed he could stall that choice for a few years, and said:

“Look, you want to stay like this, go ahead. But trust me, everything  will only get worse from now on. The pain will get worse, the urges will get stronger, until you go completely mental and end up going on a murder spree. And when that happens, you’ll die. Either by offing yourself or by getting killed. So, all things considered,” He paused at that moment, gritting his teeth a bit as he spoke. “Choosing to let yourself be who you’re meant to be is the better option. The more powerful option. Be all you can be, and more.”

Now Daniel officially hated himself.

And he really needed to find out what was going on that was letting demons feel things like regret and compassion.

He could see Chris’ interest perked up when he mentioned power, and at that moment he knew what the kid was going to choose. It wasn’t really a hard sell, it had even convinced Daniel himself in the not so distant past. It was their job, after all, wasn’t it? To tempt people and convince them that the wicked road was better? And it could be better indeed, at times. Daniel wasn’t exactly complaining about his new set of abilities, but what was the use of having said abilities when you could only use them when you were told to?

Chris still looked hesitant, but he nodded slowly at first before asking:

“So, how powerful would I get? And would the pain stop? These weird… desires and urges I feel, will they stop too?”

“You have a selected batch of abilities now, they’ll get stronger if you do this. And yes, you’ll be able to control the urges better. Things won’t be so chaotic.” Daniel said, trying not to let the anger he was feeling appear in his expression. There went another one down the drain, just like he had. If he could only open his mouth to tell the kid what he was really getting into, all the shit he would have to go through. The very inability to let his own emotions go free, to no longer have his own-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of one of the beer taps being ruptured, making the liquid start to pour violently across the pub. They both looked up in surprise, as the bartender tried to make the leak stop to no avail. He glanced back at Chris, so was watching the scene intently, looking more frightened than before.

“That was me, wasn’t it?” He asked, looking back at Daniel. He sounded genuinely scared, and started shaking a bit. “I’m too stressed, it must’ve been me. I don’t want this to keep happening to me, I never know when something's gonna happen, and I can’t control these… bloody emotions.” He said, panting a bit before nodding. “I’ll do it. I dunno if there’s one of those contracts I need to sign with blood or anything, but I’ll do it. I’ll be a bloody demon, if it makes all this madness stop.”

Daniel nodded slowly, only paying half attention to the kid. He told him distractedly that was lovely to hear, that there was no contract, one of the higher ups would contact him briefly and that he could go on his merry way. Chris had nodded and left the pub hurriedly, no doubt looking for a new place to stay. But Daniel wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. He had other, more pressing issues to worry about.

Like the fact that it wasn’t Chris’ freaking out that caused the beer tap to rupture. He hadn’t accidentally caused it because he couldn’t control the effects his emotions had over things.

It was Daniel’s uncontrolled emotions that had caused it. And that shouldn’t be happening at all.


	7. 6

6

 

“You've caused a beer tap to blow up because you got _angry_? Do you know how bloody stupid that sounds?”

Daniel sighed, shaking his head a bit. He was sitting on Eddie’s couch, a useless glass of scotch in his hand as he told the fellow demon what had happened concerning Chris and the pub. Luckily, he had left Cardiff already and was just getting used to the London smog again. It wasn’t his home, but it played the part well.

“Can we focus on the real issue here?” Daniel asked, downing his drink and setting the glass down on the coffee table with more force than it was needed. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, the same way you’re not supposed to feel bad about fulfilling an order.” He said, mentioning the fact on purpose. “You were the one panicking about it first, remember? You came to _me_ about this, not the other way around.”

Eddie made a face at the reminder of what had happened to him. He wasn’t proud of it, but if he was honest to himself he’d admit that he hadn’t forgotten about the whole issue. He was concerned, and now that it happened to Daniel as well as a few other demons he knew he was getting more genuinely worried about the situation.

“So what are you going to do?” He asked Daniel, pacing across his living room and feeling restless.

“ _Me_?” The other demon asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise when he looked at his friend. “I’m going to wish the best of luck to the poor sod downstairs chooses to look into this mess. I’m done serving as their P.I., every time I do it I end up getting fucked. As for me, I’m sticking to basic tempting. It’s way more stress free. You do it, so it’s probably pretty easy.” He said and grinned a bit, before Eddie threw a pillow from the couch at him.

“Do I have to remind you that technically I’m your superior?” Eddie asked, glaring a bit. Still, he sighed as he looked at his friend. “Hell’s not going to look into this, you know they won’t. For all we know, they’re the ones setting this up, fucking with our heads. Either that, or they think upstairs is involved and in that case they definitely won’t want to touch it. In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t like angels.” He added, irony dripping from his voice.

Daniel looked up at Eddie, thinking for a moment. He knew damn well that either possibility was likely, and knew neither side would look into the matter if they really were acting together. He didn’t want to do it, not at all, but officially he was still Hell’s official investigator of dodgy issues. It wasn’t a glamorous job, not in the slightest. And Eddie was right, if he didn’t look into it no one else would and who the fuck knows what could happen if that situation got out of hand. Either way, Daniel knew he was fucked.

“Well, if I’m doing this, you might as well help me. You’re the one who got me into this mess in the first place. You’re the one who made me notice what’s happening.”

Eddie stared at him, before cocking an eyebrow in suspicion. He sighed and looked around, before going over to where he kept his drinks and pouring himself a lot of whiskey. He knew it wouldn’t work, but since they were all fucked in the head, he had hopes whatever was happening to them would at least cause alcohol to work on him. Eddie had had a fine stay on Earth so far, despite the fact that he was stuck with that useless teenage body. He's even had some relative peace, all things considered, and didn’t mind his tasks all that much. Until recently, at least. What was happening lately affected his life directly, and he definitely didn’t like the idea of starting to behave even more like a human. His borrowed body already had too much influence on his thoughts and actions, as it was. He emptied his glass, before looking back at Daniel and sighing in defeat.

“Oh, sod it. Even if I say no you’ll be knocking on my door every day wanting me to help you, so I might as well agree to it, yea?”

* * *

 

“So where should we set up shop, or whatever?” Eddie had asked, looking around his ridiculously spacious apartment. Daniel looked up at him from the couch, a few hours after they’ve decided to work together on this thing, and looked around as well.

“Here looks good. And don’t say ‘set up shop’, we’re not on some TV crime drama.” He said, rolling his eyes a little. Eddie was a lot older than he was, yes, but that teenage body of his was definitely influencing the fellow demon’s behavior.

“Absolutely not, I know how you are, you’ll end up wanting to move in here with me.” Eddie said, shaking his head as he paced around his living room. “And I’ve seen where you live, you’ll turn my flat into another scrap yard.”

“I don’t live there anymore.” Daniel protested, though he wasn’t going to deny that he wasn’t exactly what you’d call organized. Plus, he’d only lived in a trailer there to try to fly under Hell’s radar. Fat lot of good, that did. “And we’ll be working together, so we’ll need to be close. You’ve said it yourself, I’d just end up knocking here all the time, anyway.” He said, before lighting a cigarette and taking a drag. “We need to figure out what we’ll do first.” He said, changing the subject.

“Alright. We need to ask around, see if this is a more general issue or if it’s just happening to a few of us.” Eddie nodded, still pacing around the living room. Daniel nodded, smiling a little while he saw his friend go back straight to military mode. Eddie, or Belphegor, had played important roles in important battles in the distant past. His overall role was to inspire people and get them to have ideas that would make them rich, so while his strong suit wasn’t in the battlefields, he was still a master strategist. So his ideas and plans would be more than welcome for their general investigation.

There was one thing Daniel was putting off as much as possible, because it was a touchy subject. But it had to be done, at least in this asking around phase of the whole thing. He didn’t like it, and he knew Eddie would like it even less, but they needed all the information they could get.

“We need to know if this is happening on both sides. So who’s gonna contact the angels?” He asked, looking up at his friend. Eddie stopped pacing and looked at him, frowning.

“Well you are. You’ve had experience with them before, it only makes sense. I certainly am not about to call up one of those twats to ask about how they’ve been feeling lately.”

“My ‘experience’, as you put it, was injecting some of my own blood in fucking Gabriel, of all entities, and ruin his plan to erase all of us.” Daniel reminded him, looking at Eddie as if it was obvious why that wasn’t a good idea. “So I doubt any of them would want to invite me in for a cuppa if I made contact.”

“In case you haven’t heard, he’s not the only angel around.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. “Just speak to one who’s not so much of a tosser. And that plan was stupid, getting rid of us. He forgot that one, good and evil need each other to exist and two, both are innate to humans. But he’s like, the master tosser, anyway. So that fits his role, I suppose.”

Daniel nodded a little at Eddie’s remarks, figuring he was right. But he really still needed to think of an angel who wouldn’t attack him on sight. And there was another possibility they hadn’t considered.

“What if this whole thing is their doing? They won’t just fess up on the first time I ask.”

“I don’t doubt they’re behind it.” Eddie said, looking at Daniel. “But just because one or a group of them is behind this it doesn’t mean all of them is going to know about it. Also, they’ve just come out of a failed attack on us, they wouldn’t try something like this again so soon. Like I said, it was a dumb plan.” The demon said and shrugged, before sitting on a chair at last. “Find a lowly one, one that’s young and not too important. Kind of like you, but in angel version.” He grinned, and Daniel threw his glass at him, though Eddie made it disappear before it hit him, without even flinching. The perks of being incredibly old.

“You really are a prick, you know that?” Daniel asked, but sighed in compliance anyway. Then a thought came to his mind and he smirked a little at his friend. “Well, if I’m gonna speak to the angels, you’re going to speak to our own. I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun talking to fellow demons about their feelings.” He laughed, shaking his head while Eddie groaned at the prospect.

* * *

 

He had no idea how he was going to contact an angel.

Obviously he knew they walked around and knew where they usually stayed, but those definitely weren’t his usual hang outs. And even worse than that, Daniel didn’t have a clue of where he could find a ‘lesser, younger’ angel, like Eddie had put it earlier. The twat.

And not only that, he still had to focus on the main issue at hand, which was the sudden lack of control of his own emotions. Namely, anger.

Sure, anger was an emotion that all demons felt, it was sort of required from them, but as a work requirement of sorts. Daniel’s anger was different, especially lately. It was personal, and he didn’t even know against who or what it was exactly. It wasn’t in a ‘revolt against the system’ kind of anger, though he did feel plenty of anger towards the way hell ran things. It was more like anger at people in general. Anger at humans and their ways of mucking up everything they lay their hands on.

Look at him. He wasn’t even an angel originally and he was thinking like one. How ironic. And troubling, because that meant a whole new aspect of whatever it was that was happening. Though that gave him an idea, as outrageous as it was.

If angels and demons weren’t being able to completely suppress their more human emotions, that meant they didn’t know how to deal with everything that was happening. And when they didn’t know how to deal with something, much like humans did, they wanted to find a way to forget these issues they didn’t understand. And the answer to that was usually to get inebriated. Meaning, piss drunk. And Daniel knew just the place where he’d find angels and demons looking for something that could cloud their minds enough.

***


	8. 7

7

 

Angels and demons had different goals and visions in life, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t frequent the same places. In fact, many of them found that hanging in pubs was a very fruitful activity, even though they couldn’t get inebriated. There was potential for salvation as much as there was for damnation there, after all.

There was one particular place where Daniel knew he had good chances of finding what he was looking for. A club, of all places, where angels and demons had something of a truce, and both parts were free to relax or simply continue their work, but without the interference of the other side.  

Thankfully, the bar didn’t get too crowded during tuesdays, so Daniel was able to pick a stool and ask for a drink. The bartender noticed his enhanced fangs and asked if he didn’t want blood instead, but the demon huffed and raised a hand to get his hair off his forehead and expose his horns.

“Different breed, mate. Not that alcohol has that much effect on me, you see, but things have been changing lately.” He said, looking around the club slowly and spotting a few angels. “Say, you know any one of those celestial twats who isn’t that much of a twat?”

The bartender looked around the club, no doubt trying to weed out the angels present there that were known for being particularly annoying from the less irritating ones. He kept scanning the bar until he set Daniel’s drink down and nodded towards a man, appearing to be a bit older than the demon.

“There. Adrael. He’s not that bad.” The bartender said, and Daniel thanked him with an extra nice tip.

He sighed and made his way over to the angel, who was drinking… scotch? Okay, why would he do that if they couldn’t get drunk? Maybe there was something more to it.

“Now, why would a nice, harmless angel such as yourself drink alcohol when we both know it doesn’t affect us?” He asked, sliding to the stool next to Adrael. Maybe he’d been hanging around with Eddie too much, he was starting to pick up on his behaviour.

The angel cocked an eyebrow at him, looking confused and suspicious. With good reason, considering Daniel had a particularly bad fame among angels.

“Are you making a pass at me? Cause that would be incredibly stupid, not to mention it sounds like the plot for one of those shoddy teenage novels the humans insist on writing.” The angel said, and Daniel picked up a note of anger in his voice. He cocked an eyebrow.

“You should be so lucky. No, everyone knows I don’t like to mix with you lot, for obvious reasons, but this is strictly work.” He said and paused, watching Adrael carefully. “I’ve got a mate who’d be shameless enough to try to make a pass on an angel, though. Could give you his number if that’s your thing.”

The angel sighed and glared at him, lowering his glass with more force than necessary. There. All Daniel needed.

“You came all this way just to taunt me, is that it? Don't you have any tempting and damning to do?” The angel asked, and Daniel smirked.

“No, I came here on work, actually. Though you could say I’m working independently, in a way.” He said, his tone all business now. “You felt anger just now, didn’t you?”

Adrael looked up at him like he’d just been caught in a lie. Shameful. Another human emotion. He remained silent.

“Yea, and you know bloody well you shouldn’t be able to feel any of that, don’t you? And that’s why you’re drinking, to cope, and to see if you can in fact get drunk. Even risking falling. That’s quite the risk, if you ask me.”

“I don’t have to tell you lot anything, _demon_.” The angel growled, looking at him, pure anger in his eyes. And fear. Daniel smirked.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, that’s right. This conversation’s already answered many of my questions, so thank you for that, mate.” He said, getting up from his seat and starting to leave.

“And you think a lowly creature such as yourself can find out what’s going on?”

He heard the angel’s voice and turned to look at him again, serious.

“If you boys aren’t doing anything to find out what’s happening, and judging from your face I’d say you’re not, then yea. I think it’s up to me to fix this clusterfuck. But if you are looking into it, then by all means, I do love a competition.” He grinned, and Adrael rolled his eyes, before downing his drink. “Now, don’t start developing alcoholism, _angel_.”

The angel told him to go fuck himself while Daniel walked off, not entirely pleased with the answers he’s got, but it was always fun to try to annoy an angel – and succeed.

* * *

“You know, I suggest you do what I did and just get the bugger drunk.” Daniel shrugged as he sat on Eddie’s couch with a cigarette between his lips, listening to his friend complain about how hard it is to find a demon who would give him information.

“Seduce another demon? Not a good idea.” Eddie said, pacing around the living room, signalling he was nervous.

“You’re nervous, mate. Since when do you get nervous?” Daniel said, watching him from his spot and taking a drag from his cigarette.

“You know bloody well since when.” Eddie barked, glaring at him. “If it is one of us who’s causing this, how come I haven’t heard anything about it? My rank is high enough to know about these sorts of things, so if I didn’t hear anything about it, then it’s not us.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, mate. Your rank’s not that high.” Daniel said, shaking his head. “Though the fact that you’re being affected by it does tell me that not even the older bastards are free.”

“If that’s true, then the situation’s worse than I’d thought.” Eddie pointed out, definitely looking worried now. And Daniel was starting to feel that worry too. Whatever it was that was happening, it was spreading, and fast.  And if they didn’t find a way to contain it, chaos would end up reigning on Earth.

“Look, we know it’s affecting demons and angels alike. I seriously doubt our people is causing this, and the angels act all high and mighty because of their lack of emotion, so I’d say it’s there’s a fair chance they’re not doing this. So if it’s not us, and it’s not them, then who could cause this?”

“Humans.” Eddie said, shrugging. “There are some powerful ones out there.”

“What, like wizards?” Daniel chuckled, looking at him and raising an eyebrow. “Powerful enough to cause this on angels and demons alike? Nonsense, it has to be a group of angels. Higher ups, I bet.”

Eddie chuckled, shaking his head a little as he looked at Daniel. He acted like humans were scum, just like more snobby demons did. The same ones Daniel hated, which was ironic enough.

“You underestimate them. That’s a dumb thing to do, mate. You were one of them just until the other day, after all. You helped one and you whine about it to this day. You even imitate their accent. We both do, for fuck’s sake. You think their magic is weak? You better think again.”

“I was merely half human. And Rhaine was… something else. You know that damn well.”

“See? Still whining about it.” Eddie said, chuckling. “We need to investigate them. So you can go search with your contacts, and I’ll sniff around mine.”

“When did you get in charge of this investigation?” Daniel asked, frowning at Eddie, who merely shrugged.

“When you started acting like a tosser.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! How about leaving a comment?  
> Many authors give up on writing or posting stories because of the lack of feedback. Feedback is the writer's food!


	9. 8

The idea that humans could be behind this was preposterous, but Daniel had to admit there was a chance that could be true. He disliked humans as much as any other demon, but the possibility that they were meddling with something such as his own emotions was enough to intensify the rage he’d been feeling lately.

Still, he had a job to do. Find out if any of his contacts has heard of anything strange or suspicious happening lately. Though when it came to his world, there was always something strange or suspicious happening. But there was one place where he knew the particularly weird news would get to.

 

***

There were many museums in London, but one in particular didn’t attract the public’s attention all that much. It was right next to an alley, in an almost forgotten neighborhood where people rarely went. Or at least where so called normal people rarely went. People didn’t attend to museums all that much anymore these days, especially to small, obscure ones. But this particular one had its public.

Daniel was part of said public, for he knew what the red door that separated the outside world from the inside of the museum hid. Or at least some of it. He looked up the building that had a very Victorian look to it, which looked like it was meant to attract visitors but in reality it was because that museum had been there for a very long time. He sighed and walked up to the door, opening it and walking into the place.

The inside of the museum looked like any average museum, but when one’s began to pay too much attention to the artifacts, things got interesting. Officially, the museum housed ancient books, documents and objects that were connected to the witch hunt that happened during the middle age. Most people thought the objects were forgeries meant to cause hype, but Daniel knew better. He knew better, because the museum owner had a rather intimate connection to the objects displayed.

Daniel walked straight to the place’s office, knowing he didn’t need to make his presence known. He paused at the door before opening it though. Not out of fear or any other nonsense like that (technically, he’s not even supposed to feel fear), but because he wasn’t sure if he’d like the answers he went to look for there. Still, there was a strange sense of purpose and responsibility in him that was pushing Daniel into keep looking into the matter he was investigating. It was mostly self-preservation though, he figured.

He sighed again and opened the door, seeing the woman behind the desk was looking at him, unimpressed.

“Well, that took you long enough. I was worried you’d get cold feet and leave.” She said, raising an eyebrow. Daniel suddenly felt very tired, before he moved to sit on the chair across her desk.

“I almost did. But I can’t seem to stay away from you, can I?”

The woman laughed, before throwing her hair back in a movement Daniel knew too well. He sighed again.

Dianna was the witch who owned and cared for the small museum, she had struck a deal with some other demon during the middle ages to get the stuff humans usually wanted such as long life – or in her case, immortality to survive the inquisition – power, beauty and all the rest of things humans usually looked for. Obviously it backfired and she ended up aging normally, but at a slower rate than the other humans. So at that point she looked like she was in her forties. She served as one of Daniel’s sources on how and what the witches of London were doing, and sometimes she even had a few news on what select demons were doing. Daniel met her when he was still a halfbreed, looking for a way to tame his own demonic urges. She was the one who suggested he’d use human blood.

“No, you can’t.” She smiled at him. “So why are you here? I assume it’s because of all the chaos that’s happening now?”

“Maybe.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “So you’ve heard about it?”

“Of course I have, I’m your source after all. Plus, your aura is completely different today, just like the others. I take you’ve been quite angry at things lately.”

Daniel sighed, before rolling his eyes. That was why he hesitated before going there. She knew him far too well. And wasn’t exactly trustworthy. It was strange to think a human could be less trustworthy than a demon, but that merely proved how twisted things were these days. It made Daniel wonder if their task to incite the spark of evil in humans was even that relevant lately, with humanity apparently not needing that extra push all that much.

“Yes, it’s been a thrill.” He said, his voice flat. “So I’m looking into this since no one seems to have the balls to do it. But you mentioned the others, did people come here asking about this particular issue?”

“You mean the emotions?” She asked, looking a bit surprised. “A few, but not too many. Demons don’t usually go around looking into their emotions. Or lack of thereof, for that matter.”

“No we don’t, but you know how the world works. Things are only noticed when they break. And in our case, we didn’t really have a reason to look into something that wasn’t affecting us in any way, you know?”

“I do.” She nodded, looking at him. “So how’s the investigation so far? Are you managing to keep an objective perspective on things? Cause investigations like that can be clouded by personal interests and… emotions.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, letting it be known that he was not in the mood for that kind of crap. But still, she got to him in a way that he didn’t fully understand. He’d never found out who she’d sold her soul to, but he had a feeling it was one of the higher ups. Which was why he thought (hoped?) she’d have good information to give him.

“It’s going well, thank you.” He said, being careful enough to be civil and polite. “I’m really finding out some interesting things about this particular issue, but since you’re my best informer, I was thinking you could do your bloody job and tell me if you’ve heard anything strange or suspicious from your little network.”

“Little network?” She asked, her tone laced with an undignified note. “If it’s so little, then why did you come here? You know I’m the best there is at picking up patterns in the air, at finding little shreds of facts and gossip and turn it into useful information. You came here for my ‘little network’, must I remind you.”

“Alright, no need to get your claws out. I’m just stating the facts.” Daniel said, unfazed as he lit a cigarette. Dianna snapped her fingers in the cigarette’s direction and the demon raised an eyebrow, before taking another one from his pack and handing it to her. “You know, you _can_ buy them.” He pointed out, while he handed her the lighter.

“No pyrotechnics for this? And you sit there complaining you can’t act as a real demon anymore? Oh please.” She smirked and set the lighter down after having lit her own cigarette, before taking a drag and exhaling it. “And piss off, by the way. I act out because I know how you lot are. You deceive, that’s in your nature. You can’t help it. Or at least you used to not be able to help it.” She shrugged.

“I’m not a magician, so no need to act like one.” He merely said, his voice flat. “So do you have _useful information_ or not?”

Dianna took another drag from her cigarette and exhaled through her nostrils, not unlike a dragon, before she smiled.

“Oh, I do. And you’re going to love it.”

***


	10. 9

Daniel was feeling dizzy when he left the place. Not from any physical issues, but from what he’d just heard in there. Dianna was good at what she did, maybe too good, so he knew she had told him the truth just then. The matter was the things she’d said.

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed that three demons and three angels had gone missing. Not only that, he didn’t know how he hadn’t felt the power fluctuations around him. Not electrical power, but the energy all around. Maybe it was masked by the overall fear and confusion that the demonic and angelic community had been feeling lately, with the emotions issue. No one understood what was happening, but no one had the guts to look it up and everyone was too distracted with trying to deal with these things to really think it over.

Wow, no wonder humans were so distracted and fragile-minded. How could they not be, while trying to deal with all those bubbling emotions all the time? But then again, there was the free will issue. They had free will now. He wasn’t having to follow orders like some dog anymore, didn’t fear the repercussions of doing what he wanted. That was… amazing. And terrifying.

Daniel himself was barely able to deal with the bubbling rage he’d been feeling, without even knowing at what it was directed to. Though on second thought, he knew. He was angry because he’d been in that position before, back when he was still human. He’d felt that anger before, that insistent rage at everything he was seeing wrong in the world, heaven and hell included. He was angry at the entire system, its bureaucracy, at the idiot other demons who thought he was worthless just because he’d been a half-breed before. But most of all, he was angry because that reminded him of what it was like to not be a full blooded demon. And it almost brought back a feeling he’d been doing his best to restrain: the regret of choosing to be what he was now. But then he remembered the torture it was, to live between two worlds, always forced to be half of two things and always ending up having to deal with the worse parts of those worlds.

But no, now that he was starting to get to the bottom of that, Daniel had somewhere to direct his rage to. Whoever was causing this mess, bringing all those sensations and memories back to him, they were going to see first-hand the demonic fury they had unleashed in him.

* * *

After becoming a full blooded demon he’d forgotten what it felt like to not have to bow down and do what he was told, what freedom felt like. But the freedom was crushing him. He had power and nothing was limiting it. That alone had the potential for disaster and he was a young demon. He didn’t even want to imagine what the older, more powerful ones were going through. But he knew it wouldn’t take them too long to reach the same conclusion, that everyone was too distracted by this to regulate each other.

Whoever did this was a bloody genius. And sadistic, because that would mean full on war on Earth.

“Aren’t you being just a tad melodramatic, mate?”

Daniel looked up at Eddie, with a raised eyebrow. He was sitting on his couch, sharing what he’d realized so far to his friend and ending up a bit disappointed.

“How’s that? You do agree with me, don’t you?”

“Well, I do about the free will bit. But I don’t believe that means there’ll be war just because of that.” The other demon shrugged.

“Depends on your concept of war. And I get it, you never had this freedom before, so it’s easy to get lost in it.” Daniel said, sitting back on the lush couch. “But don’t tell me you’re going to try to stop me from setting things right.”

“I don’t even understand _why_ you’re so keen on having things back the way they were. You hate the rules they impose on us, too. You were whining about it just the other day, mate.” Eddie said, lazily.

“Yes, and I do, but then I realized that’s what kept us from doing stupid shit whenever we felt like it.” He said, before lighting a cigarette and taking a drag. “If all the angels and all the demons can do whatever the fuck they want, it’ll be sheer bloody chaos. It’ll end up destroying the Earth, even before the humans got a chance to do that first. And I dunno about you, but I actually like it here. It sure as shit beats hell.”

Eddie looked at him for a long time, his lips forming a thin line while he thought about the issue. Daniel was too young, he wasn’t there for the first wars between angels and demons. Before the humans, even. It was brutal and bloody and they had nearly destroyed everything, that was true. Daniel was right, it wouldn’t be long until someone went insane from the emotions and abused their powers. Or simply abused their powers for ego’s sake. Pride was a nasty thing, really. If it happened, things would go to shit in a dizzyingly fast rate, and there would be nothing left. It was more than likely that heaven would win, but without hell and humanity (humans would most likely be the firsts to go, as collateral damage) it’d lose its purpose and probably end up tearing itself apart, too. He looked up at Daniel, sighing.

“Well, we need to fix this shite, don’t we?” He told his friend. “Fucking hell, do you want a drink? I want a drink.”

Daniel nodded, exhaling the smoke in another sigh.

“Well, at least I got some valuable information from Dianna.” He said, before sharing what he’d discovered about the disappearances. Eddie’s eyes widened from the new information while he fixed himself a shot of bourbon.

“Fuck me, angels and demons missing? Feels like we’re in one of those detective shows, mate.” He said, moving to sit back on his couch and downing his drink. “At least now we can drink properly.” Eddie shrugged, lifting his glass.

“Yea, and that only brings us even closer to humans.” Daniel pointed out. “You do realize that with all this happening, we’re all basically super powered humans, right?”

“You’re overreacting, we’re a whole different race.” Eddie shook his head. “We have a deeply established hierarchic system, rules and punishments, the usual bullshit. Humans are anarchic in nature.”

“Right, cause with free will we’ll be so different from them, right?” Daniel asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“So what do you suggest we do to fix this thing?” Eddie asked him.

“Well obviously this is related to the missing angels and demons, we just need to figure out how.” Daniel said, taking another drag of his cigarette.

“We could do a sweep for anomalies in angels and demons’ energies, see if we find anything.” The other demon proposed, though he looked unsure. “But there’s already a huge anomaly happening at the moment, so it’s going to be really difficult to find it. We’d need to find a way to use both our powers combined.”

“So it’d be incredibly difficult, but not impossible?” Daniel asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“In theory, no. But I’m serious about the ‘really difficult’ bit. It might cost us our physical bodies or something.”

Daniel nodded as he looked at Eddie, thinking about the issue. He didn’t know why, but he was willing to make that sacrifice if it was necessary.

“Alright, then.” He said, putting his cigarette out. “I know just the place where we can do this.”

Eddie frowned in confusion for a moment, before he realized what was the place Daniel was talking about.

“It just hit me. You really don’t value this body of yours _at all_ , do you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo like? Hate? Feedback is an author's food, people


	11. 10

Daniel had to admit, that hadn't been one of his brightest ideas.

Doing a massively complicated energy reading under unprecedented circumstances inside a packed bar on a saturday night, what was he bloody thinking? Not to mention that the said bar would be crawling with angels, demons and who the fuck knows what else. That might have been his dumbest idea to date.

But it was their only option. The only way to get behind what was happening and fix it, even if it ended up costing him something as valuable as his physical body.

Eddie wasn’t controlling his newfound fear all that much. He was comfortable with how things were before, but felt wary of what could happen to him if things didn’t work out the way they were planning. Granted, doing this at a bar was Daniel’s idea, so the blame would be on him if things went to shit. But even so, he felt… afraid, that was the word. Afraid of their plan not working and this thing, whatever it was, continuing with no one willing to stop it. He figured if that happened maybe losing his physical body wouldn’t even be so bad after all.

Still, there they were, sitting at a table near the corner of the pub Daniel usually went to, trying to focus while the crowd buzzed all around them. The younger demon tried not to feel scared of what would happen, but they were already in too deep to back down now.

“Do we need to hold hands and all that sort of rubbish?” Eddie asked him. He was sitting across from Daniel, dressed all in black because he wanted to look inconspicuous, but it wasn’t working all that well.

“You’re the older demon here; you’re supposed to know more than me.” Daniel said, looking around. “But no, I don’t think we need to do that. Just, focus on the angels and demons here, try to weed out the obvious problem happening to all of us and focus on the source of it. We’ll join our powers, to make it stronger. But I do suggest we close our eyes.”

“And hope no one interrupts us.” Eddie sighed, but closed his eyes anyway.

Daniel worried for a moment about how weird they were going to look, sitting there with their eyes closed but put those thoughts away as he too closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He tried to calm his mind and latch his own energy to Eddie’s, giving the ritual more power. Slowly, very slowly, he began the sweep, mapping the angels and demons present in the pub, feeling their energies.

Eddie was the more powerful of the two, so he was able to do that mapping with Daniel without any major problems. They kept controlling their breathing, feeling the most obvious anomaly in both kinds’ energies. The energy signature of the anomaly was the same in both the angels and demons, that information was helpful. Now came the hard part, find out what it was exactly and where it came from.

Daniel did his best to strengthen their link, feeling what Eddie was feeling and using his own energy to up the power of what they were doing. They could feel the anomaly, and willed their minds to prod further into it, while weeding out the random thoughts and new emotions. But there were too many of them, and now that both angels and demons could get drunk, the job was extra difficult. Like walking through a very thick forest while looking for something he didn’t know what it was.

Eddie gripped Daniel’s forearm tightly, with enough strength to break bones but the other demon was way past the pain at that moment. He could feel he was getting close to whatever it was, almost able to pinpoint the source and the nature of that thing, but it was like it kept moving further away from him. That’s when the idea came to him.

He did his absolute best to increase his own focus on the search and at the same time let the anger that was bubbling inside him grow. Anger at their situation, at everyone apparently ignoring the issue, anger at not being able to find it. He focused on that anger he shouldn’t even be feeling and that helped him get closer to the source of it. He prodded even more, with the help of Eddie’s energy, looking into himself and the other angels and demons at the same time, until he found it at last.

It was like the forest ended suddenly and he fell down a cliff.

They both opened their eyes suddenly and fell back on their chairs, collapsing on the ground. Eddie managed to recover first, but he was still shaking when Daniel was able to get up from the floor. They were both shaking and drenched in sweat when they were finally able to look at each other.

“You felt it too?” Daniel croaked as he looked at the other demon, who didn’t even appear to be able to form words but nodded anyway. “Let’s go.” He said and ran out of the bar, with Eddie right behind him. They didn’t need to speak to know where they had to go.

***

Bloody humans. It was always them, wasn’t it? Something always went wrong when they decided to meddle with what they didn’t understand. Daniel had full knowledge he was being more than a little contradictory, considering he’d always advocated in favour of humans, but that didn’t mean he was going to approve stupidity. And that’s exactly what it was, human stupidity at it’s finest.

The ritual allowed them to discover the thing was created by magic. Bloody magic, something they should’ve been able to detect right away, but it was hidden. And the way it was hidden was at least sufficient to give the humans a few points. They had their own ways to be wicked, alright. They barely needed external influence to do shit, that much was true.

What was different, and was masking the whole thing was the source of the magic. And at that moment Daniel could’ve kicked himself in the head over how dumb he’d been.

They were using demonic and angelic energy to fuel the spell. Give it energy, while at the same time hiding it both from angels and demons. And it was a lot of energy, so they must’ve been using more than one angel and demon. Which begged the question:

“Which ones and how the fuck are they containing them?” Eddie said, looking at Daniel when they were back at his flat. They went there right after they finished their little ritual, to go through Eddie’s old books in search of anything that would be able to help them find out what the spell was.

“That's if they’re being contained. But even so, we could ask around to see if anyone’s been missing lately.” Daniel shrugged.

“Everyone’s too distracted by this thing, you think these disappearances will have been noticed by anyone?”

“That’s part of their plan, I’d guess. Make everyone too distracted so they won’t notice it.” Daniel sighed. “I’m really starting to wonder if we’ve become obsolete, if they’re coming up with all the evil without our help.”

Eddie merely looked up at him and sighed, rubbing his now healing forearm.

***


	12. 11

 

 And so began the hard task of finding out if there were any angels and demons missing at that point. Like Daniel had figured, it wasn’t an easy nor a pleasant task, since it involved getting angels and demons alike to care about something other than their own problems. The bigger one being the “feelings issue” as Eddie now liked to call, cause that’s just the kind of demon he was. So Daniel had to spend a lot of time at the bar where him and Eddie had performed the scanning ritual earlier that week, talking to the bartender and whoever else was willing to listen to him rambling. The fact that angels and demons could now get drunk surely helped when he was looking for information, but not always.

"Missing patrons lately? I don’t exactly keep tabs on everyone who stops here, mate.” The bartender told Daniel, who narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“It’s a bar that has a quite particular regular clientele, if you don’t know who’s who then you’re a shit bartender, then.” Daniel all but growled, letting the man see his fangs before speaking quietly. “You know exactly what I am and who comes here. And I’m sure you know about the recent… issue we’ve all been dealing with lately because all these people are drinking now. That’s great for you, I’m sure, but having me tear your arms off right here definitely won’t be so great for you. So I suggest you start talking, while you pour me a glass of scotch.”

He didn’t usually let that side of himself appear like that, but he’d been having issues with controlling his rage. Which was quickly becoming a problem for him, but it helped at times when he had to make a point.

The bartender poured him the liquor, no longer acting as cocky as before. “I only know what I hear, mate.”

“That’s bollocks and you know it, the bartender always knows everything that’s been going on.” Daniel spat, looking at him as he felt the anger rising. He didn’t enjoy being played, especially by a human. His eyes must’ve flashed red then, because the man swallowed hard and whispered:

“Alright, but I swear I’m not involved. There have been some disappearances, but no one’s paying all that much attention to it ‘cause everyone just assumed these people just went back to… where they came from. Plus, no one really cares about it, to be honest. None of you are human, it’s not like you’re going to call the coppers and file a missing person’s report.” The bartender spoke, and Daniel paid attention, drinking more. “But it’s been a number of disappearances now, and people are starting to talk, because apparently they’re important.”

“Okay, names, then.” Daniel said, raising his eyebrows as it was obvious he needed that information.

“I dunno the names, mate.” The man said and Daniel narrowed his eyes. “But I know someone who does, he’s one of you lot. But good luck on getting him to talk, though. He likes to keep information close to his chest.”

“Yea, tell me something new. Who is he?” The demon asked, and the bartender told him.

 

* * *

 

“I can get him to talk, sure. I’m his superior.” Eddie shrugged when Daniel told him the name.

“You’re his superior? Naberius has nineteen legions, and you have… how many again?” Daniel asked his friend, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

In less than a second Eddie – or Belphegor, as it’s his true name – was pressed against him, one hand around his throat, squeezing hard and crushing his windpipe.

“I’m one of the seven princes of Hell, I correspond to not one, but two deadly sins.” He growled, his face close to Daniel’s. “That flimsy dog is merely a lowly marquis, do you really believe his legions will make a difference against me? Do you honestly believe he’d dare to not do as I tell him to do?”

The other demon made a sound, gripping Belphegor’s wrist and trying to push him away but the other didn’t budge. So he did his best to shake his head, looking at his friend. It was easy to forget in their everyday routine that “Eddie” was immensely older and stronger than him, given the teenager human body he was now using, but at times like these, rare as they were, he remembered. Oh, how he did. And that display proved another thing: the spell or whatever it was that was affecting them was also starting to affect the more important demons, who were higher in the hierarchy. That meant they were starting to lose control, being tormented by the new emotions and lack of self-discipline. That meant the two of them were running out of time to sort out that mess.

Belphegor looked at him for one more moment and let him go, stepping back while Daniel massaged his crushed throat. It’d heal in a bit, but he still felt pain, nonetheless.

“I’m your friend because you’re entertaining, _Aethe_.” He spat the other’s true name. “You’re just a lowly demon who’s seen nothing yet, who was a fucking halfbreed until a second ago. But I was curious to see how far you’d go on your little detective adventures, so I entertain myself with this friendship. But don’t you ever forget who you’re talking to; I’m still your superior by eons.”

Daniel looked at Belphegor and listened in silence, before nodding almost imperceptibly. He was able to breathe normally now, so he said:

“So mentioning a legion is an out-of-bounds subject when it concerns you, got it. I take it you can get the information of out him without any major problems, then?”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments let me know there are people actually reading this, you know


	13. 12

12

 

Naberius was… tricky, to say the least. Later Daniel had found out he was demon who corresponded to the ancient greek creature who guarded the gates of the underworld, Cerberus. Which meant the bloke definitely knew how to keep information to himself. Thankfully, he was using a human body these days, as opposed to the mythic three headed dog thing he was back in the day.

Ironically, he also had a way with words, as Eddie was telling him while they walked to the place Naberius usually frequented, a small bookstore near the limits of London.

“The bastard has a way of convincing you to do basically anything.” Eddie was telling Daniel as they walked the street to get to the book store. “Which I realize is something we’re all very good at, but he’s especially good at it. It’s even kind of embarrassing, because you don’t even realize he’s talked you into doing something.”

Daniel eyed him and smirked a little, taking a drag from his cigarette.

“I won’t even ask what he’s roped you into doing, mate.” He said, shaking his head. “If he’s so mouthy, why do you think it might be tricky to get the information out of him?”

“I never said it’d be tricky.” Eddie huffed. “What I said was, it might be tricky to not get distracted by the amount of shit he’ll throw our way to distract us. That’s how he works, you see. He distracts you so you’ll even forget what you were going to ask in the first place. Which is why it's best if only one of us talks to him.”

“You’re his superior.” Daniel frowned, looking at his friend. “What happened to ‘he’ll do whatever I tell him to’?”

“And I _am_ his superior.” Eddie said, with a slight edge to his voice. “But like I said, he has a way of getting out of situations he doesn’t want to be in.”

“Oh, perfect. We’ll just have to trick one of our own to get the information, then.” Daniel sighed, as they reached the bookstore. “Why does he stay here, anyway?”

“Part of the job, he’s the perfect salesman.” Eddie shrugged. “All he has to do is tempt people into buying as many things possible. That way humans commit at least three main sins, with the last one being wrath when they realize they just spent a shitload of money over stuff they didn’t even want.”

“That’s kind of genius, actually.” Daniel frowned, looking at the storefront. “So shall we?”

Eddie sighed and nodded, walking in the store with Daniel and looking around the place, seeing if he could spot the other demon at first glance. Soon enough, Naberius himself was standing in front of them, a warm smile on his face, but eyes that revealed the recognition in seeing them.

“Hullo gentlemen, how can I assist you?” His voice was raucous, despite the fairly young human body he was using at the time.

“I’m glad you asked.” Eddie smiled, though his smile had an edge to it, not unlike a knife. “We need information, Naberius. Now.”

The other demon merely blinked and led them to an aisle, talking about the most recent books until they reached a more deserted part of the store. Daniel looked around, but it appeared no one was paying attention to them.

“I’ve been here all this time doing my job, and being great at it, but only now you shits decide to pay me any attention?” Naberius whispered, looking at them. “What, because I have a human job? Loads of us have them, Belphegor, you’ve tasked us to it.”

“Okay, you are twisting everything here, you’re saying I’m the one who tasked us to temping humans? I merely helped organizing the whole thing, and your official job was never to work at a sodding bookstore, but it’s useful to us that you have a way with words.”

“Sorry, don’t we all?” Naberius asked, raising his eyebrows. “Not one of you lot has ever came here to see how well I’m doing my job, if I’m alright, or happy, nothing. I’m just forgotten here.”

“Will you stop your whining? It’s pathetic, and below you.” Eddie rolled his eyes. “Yes, I am your superior and you will remain here for as long as the others want.”

Daniel licked his lips and huffed, looking around again. That was going to last forever unless he put a stop to it, and Eddie was doing the exact thing he’d said he wouldn’t do, let himself get distracted.

“Oy! Youse twos need to quit it, now. Do you have information for us or not?” He asked Naberius.

“What kind of information? I have plenty of it, but you need to be more specific, you know.”

Daniel sighed in frustration, but kept looking at the other demon.

“You slimy bastard. The missing angels and demons, we know you have information about the disappearances.”

“I merely work at a bookstore, mate.” Naberius chuckled. “No one even remembers I’m here, so how could I get any information?”

Daniel closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the anger boiling up again inside him, like lava. He grabbed the other’s neck, pushing him against a wall. Technically Naberius was his superior in rank, but Daniel really didn’t care about that at the moment.

“Speak, or I’ll take your head off and you’ll have a whole lot of problem with finding a new human body.”

Naberius laughed, looking at him.

“You think you have what it takes, old son? Or should I say young son, since you’re still a baby..”

“Just give us the fucking information, you shit. You know damn well of what’s going on with everyone’s heads, and I’m sure it’s affecting you too.” Eddie growled, getting closer to him. “I’m your superior, so that’s an order.”

Naberius looked at them and Daniel’s hand squeezed tighter around his neck, until the demon nodded sharply. Daniel let go a little.

“Fine, for fuck’s sake.” Naberius coughed a little, glaring at them. “I’ll tell you, for a little something in return.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, please? I know people usually ignore this part, but let me know if I'm writing to the wind, here


	14. 13

13

 

Daniel couldn’t believe Eddie had agreed to Naberius’ terms. It was nonsense and it was stupid, considering they had the upper hand. This was why he preferred to work alone on cases.

“Look, it was either that or he was gonna continue to stall us.” Eddie said when Daniel voiced his thoughts. “You know he has a way with words. Plus, it’s not that much a big deal, what he asked.”

“Are you two fucking or something?” Daniel frowned. “Because I’ve never seen you defending anyone so much. And must I remind you that you were the first to say he wouldn’t be a problem, because he’s so inferior to you?”

“I’m his superior, yes.” Eddie said, looking at him while they finished gathering Eddie’s books and putting them in a trunk “But you know how he his, so I figured it’d be simpler to do this than to have him distract us again. And no, we’re not fucking.”

“Giving him your magic books and grimoires _is_ a big deal. Who knows what he’s going to do with them. For all we know he’s the one behind all this. Never trust a demon, remember? And we have more pressing matters to attend to.” Daniel told him, his voice dry as he smoked a cigarette, watching Eddie.

“Well, it’s all we’ve got, so I improvised.” Eddie spat.

“No, you agreed to his terms without even blinking, that’s different.” Daniel sighed. “At least it’s just your books, so if shit goes wrong it’ll be on you.”

“Well fuck you very much.” Eddie rolled his eyes, shaking his head a bit. “Not to mention we have way more important shit to worry about, like the _bloody missing demons_.” He barked in anger. Daniel sighed, looking at his friend. He was definitely starting to go unhinged from the spell or whatever it was that was affecting them. And the names Naberius told them didn’t help to leave them at ease.

“I know, alright? They’re all important, all from high ranks. I’m surprised you weren’t taken.” He huffed, taking another drag of his cigarette and following Eddie up the stairs to the second floor of his penthouse.

“Thanks, I guess.” Eddie said, looking at Daniel with a raised eyebrow as he watched the other sit on the couch.

“Okay, what we know so far: there’s a thing, it might be a spell, it probably is, that’s causing all angels and demons to go crackers because no one knows how to deal with it. Shit’s been happening everywhere, both kinds are ignoring hierarchy and orders and I’m quite sure a war’s going to happen soon.”

“What makes you think that?” Eddie asked, taking a drink from the scotch he’d just poured for himself. Daniel looked at him.

“Everyone’s going crazy, _drinking,_ acting like… well, humans do. We’ve started wars for less.”

“Fair point.” Eddie nodded, downing his drink. “We know humans are behind all this, but they’re using magic powered by blood. Demonic and angelic blood, that’s ballsy.

“And clever. And now we know how they’ve been managing to hide it from us, the power comes from the higher ups.” Daniel said.

“They shouldn’t even be able to get near the higher ups, how are they containing them?”

“Fuck if I know, but you ask me, they’re not containing them.” Daniel looked at Eddie. “This stinks of conspiracy.”

“You love conspiracies.” The other demon rolled his eyes.

“No, apparently _they_ love me. But it wouldn’t be the first time angels and demons schemed together for something.” Daniel shrugged and Eddie nodded a little.

“Maybe. So what do we do now?”

Daniel sighed and took the last drag of his cigarette before sitting back on the couch.

“They’ve got Furcas, Agares and Belial from our side. The last one’s a bloody _king_ , so they’re not playing around.” Daniel frowned. “And they have Raziel, Selaphiel and Barachiel from the other side.”

“Raziel’s a bloody archangel, how’d they manage to snatch one of them and keep him and the others somewhere long enough to do this?” Eddie frowned, looking at him.

“And Belial’s a king, so whoever we’re dealing with definitely knows their shit.” Daniel said, lighting another cigarette. Another human trait, but he was way past caring at that point.

Eddie sighed, looking at Daniel, meaning to make the question that needed to be asked but neither of them wanted to voice it.

“We need to figure out where they’re being kept.” Daniel said, between drags of his cigarette. “Humans are responsible for this, but lucky for us, I happen to know one who’s very good at gathering information concerning what humans have been doing.” He smirked a little.

* * *

 

Dianna raised an eyebrow at Daniel’s request, before sitting back on her chair and crossing her arms.

“I’m good, but I’m not _that_ good.” She said after he’s made his request. “And I don’t have a coven, so my social circle’s a bit thin these days.”

Daniel barked out a laugh, with Eddie standing next to him while they looked at the witch.

“Your whole thing is finding information, so I’m sure you can find information about your own kind.” He said, narrowing his eyes at her. “Unless you’re somehow involved. In that case, we’ll have to find other ways to get the information out of you. And you sold your soul to escape the Inquisition? That was nothing compared to us, in terms of torture.”

Dianna looked at him and lifted her chin in defiance against the demon, before taking a drag from her cigarette.

“I’m not making any promises.” She said slowly, raising an eyebrow at him. “But I’ll poke my sources a bit, see what I can find.”

“Good girl.” Daniel said with a smile, nodding a little and looking at Eddie. “Told you she’s my best source.”

Eddie merely huffed, before turning around and leaving the office. Daniel followed him and raised an eyebrow, before looking around the room in silence.

“Is she really trustworthy?” He faced his friend again and shrugged.

“Is any one, really? But she’s what we have for now, so we might as well use her. And she wouldn’t dare to betray us.”

“What makes you so sure of that?” Eddie asked, looking at Daniel with a raised eyebrow. “She’s human, humans are liars by nature.”

“So are we.” Daniel shrugged. “But she’s all we’ve got, I’ve told you. Plus, I told her the terms of her deal changed and that now she had to answer to me.”

Eddie nodded slowly, a vaguely impressed look on his face.

“I’m starting to agree with you.” He said, running a finger over one of the museum exhibits, an animal skull. “Give it time, and we’ll be rendered obsolete.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, leave a comment :)


	15. 14

Daniel sighed, before taking a drag from his cigarette. Eddie was out somewhere, probably talking Naberius out of their idiotic deal or tempting some human, and Daniel was at his non official temporary hideout, Eddie’s penthouse while he tried to figure out what he should do next. He was waiting for a response from Dianna, but he hated only having one source, one way of figuring things out.

He couldn’t find them by looking for the humans, he didn’t have any real connection to them and the magic was probably shielding them from being found. Definitely didn’t have any connection with the angels, but the demons… he just might have. It was risky and he didn’t really have a clear idea on what he should do, but maybe it’d be worth a shot. At least it was better than sitting around doing piss all.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating as he sat at the table. He knew the demons’ names, all he had to do was focus on them, track down their location. He tried to pinpoint where their energies were, but considering their power was being used to fuel the spell, their energies were basically all over the place by now. So he focused on the source of it, trying to find out where it was coming from.

Much like the time when he tried to do something similar, though this time not counting on Eddie’s presence to help with the whole experiment, he began having his own energy drained quickly once it started to get too complex. But he kept going, kept pushing himself to get it done. His head felt like it’d split open and he knew his nose was bleeding, but he continued to search and pinpoint the energies, just wanting to get everything fixed already so he could go back to his life.

Daniel focused on his anger, his main fuel for things like these. His anger at the humans, who were fucking everything up for them and managing to rival the demons themselves in matters of capacity to perform evil. Anger at himself, for taking so long to get everything sorted again, and anger at the angels and demons for not giving a shit about what was happening and simply trusting someone else would eventually save the day. That anger kept him going, gave him strength to do what he was doing at that moment, saving their asses.

He nearly had it, it was so close he could practically see it already. His headache was strong enough to blind him and the blood drops wouldn’t stop falling from his nose and landing on the table, but Daniel kept his eyes closed and kept concentrating, searching for the demons’ location. He was almost there, he’d pinpointed the location to London so far, but London was a big city. He thought of the humans’ stupidity and arrogance, their need to solve everything the easier way, not caring about the consequences to themselves or even the world. His heart was beating quickly, too quickly. He remembered the times when he’d cut himself to the bone just to rid his body of the demonic blood, and felt more angry at himself. And that anger, that self-hate that was always lingering in the back of his mind, that was enough to fuel his powers enough so he could finally locate the demons before passing out on Eddie’s living room floor.

* * *

 

He dreamt of fire and blood. Though maybe it was just an hallucination, he wasn’t sure. But the world was on fire, just like it was during the other infernal wars he was lucky enough to not participate in. He wasn’t even alive during them, anyway. But now all he could see was the remnants of the world he knew, and mankind was no more.

And he didn’t like it. Daniel knew he probably should like the prospect, but it didn’t make any sense. If humans were extinct they’d all be out of a job. Or maybe the reason for the extinction was indeed a war. The ultimate war, between all kinds. Humans, demons and angels. And they all managed to wipe each other off the map. That much he knew.

He also knew that was what was going to happen, if they failed. If they didn’t stop what was happening to them. Stupid humans, it was their fault. Maybe he should let the world burn, after all.

Someone started to shake him, but there was no one there. The barren world became blurry, and was slowly replaced by Eddie’s flat, and Eddie’s face, above his own. Daniel blinked a few times from his spot on the floor, before frowning.

“Crikey, what the bloody hell did you do?” Came Eddie’s voice, slowly growing louder and Daniel blinked, remembering what he’d done.

The attempt of finding the other demons and fixing this mess. Of course, it nearly drained him of his energies. His face felt sticky. And then Daniel remembered his nose started bleeding from the enormous effort, and by the looks of it, he had bled a lot. The table was ruined, but Eddie didn’t seem pissed about it. Daniel tried to sit up, but didn’t find the energy for it so he just stayed where he was, it was comfortable.

“I got bored.” He shrugged from his spot on the floor. “So I did some experimenting.”

“What, you’ve upgraded to start slicing your bloody face open?” Eddie frowned. “Cause that’s what it looks like, mate. And will you get up, already?”

“I would, but it’s comfortable here.” He grinned a little. “And I haven’t, by the way. It’s just my experiment that took more energy than I had anticipated.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow, not looking very convinced.

“And what experiment was that?”

“I tried to find the missing demons, searching for their energy signatures.” Daniel said, before chuckling. Eddie looked at him and frowned.

“You mean like the ritual we did? As in the ritual that required so much energy that we risked losing our physical bodies?” He asked, looking shocked. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were gonna do that? And how are you still here?”

“I did a lighter version of what we did, I was just trying to find where they were. It’s basic stuff, you know that. But it got a little tricky along the way.”

“I can see that.” Eddie said, looking back at his table. “You owe me a table, by the way.” He added and paused, closing his eyes for a moment. “Did you at least find anything?”

Daniel looked at the fellow demon and grinned, nodding a little.

“Oh, I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, be a nice person and leave a comment with ideas, praises, complaints, you name it!


	16. 15

Daniel was sitting on Eddie’s couch, as usual, the blood already cleaned off from him. Eddie was pacing on the living room looking aggravated, as usual.

“If they’re in London, it’ll be way easier to find them.” His fellow demon said, still pacing.

“It’s not a matter of if, I _know_ they’re here. And I know _where_ in the city, too.” Daniel sighed, not happy with how this was going. They had the location, but for some reason Eddie didn’t want to go already. “We need to go there _now_.”

Eddie shook his head, looking at him. He sighed and bit his lip, which made Daniel wonder why he was so… reticent on the whole thing. It wasn’t fear, it _couldn’t_ be. Right?

“I agree that we need to go there, but we can’t go do this rescue party by ourselves.” Eddie said, sounding frustrated. “We need to warn the others, we don’t know what we’ll be facing there.”

Daniel blinked, looking at him. So it _was_ fear. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, the demon prince Belphegor afraid of going in to free other demons from captivity or something. He closed his eyes and sighed again.

“Mate, you sound almost like you’re scared of going in there. And don’t crush my windpipe again, it took a whole day for it to heal last time you did that.”

But Eddie paused his pacing and just glared at him, and even though he was stuck in an adolescent body, his eyes still showed his millennial age. And they were brutal when they glared.

“Hilarious, but no, I’m not scared.” He shook his head. “Come on Aethe, you used to be better than this. Can’t you see the implications? What if you were simply allowed to find this information? This thing stinks of trap, and I’m not letting those humans add me to their collection and make the bloody spell get even stronger.”

Daniel sighed again, looking up at him. Maybe Eddie was right that time, but they still had to do something about the information. Of course, the thought of him being played by doing all that and nearly losing his physical body just to get false information bruised his ego more than a little, but if it was true, they could break the damn spell by getting the demons.

“We don’t know what kind of spell it is, and we don’t know how they’ve managed to restrain them.” Eddie interrupted his thoughts, making Daniel look up at him, before frowning. “I don’t need to read your mind to know what you’re thinking. We need a better plan than going in there on a whim.”

Daniel closed his eyes again, before lighting a cigarette. He knew what Eddie meant, they needed a decoy demon to go in there, someone who wasn’t powerful enough to risk being added to the spell, since they were only going after the main players.

Basically, Daniel would have to go there alone.

* * *

 

He missed the time when things were simpler. When he could just be himself, without having to answer to anyone and have these ridiculous responsibilities. Without being the only one who’s thinking about their collective future. Honestly, if he survived this they should grant him a title. He could be a count or an earl, maybe.

He focused on the address he’d gotten after his little adventure that nearly cost him his physical body. Though to be honest, it wasn’t like he had an address written out. He was focusing on the energy, and the ritual he’d performed helped him find the place. Now that he knew what energy trace exactly he was looking for, it was easy.

And he knew very well he could be walking into a trap.

Daniel took his car and followed his instinct, driving apparently aimlessly around the city. He focused on the missing demons and angels, hoping he’d be able to follow their energies by going where they were stronger. It seemed to work a bit, the energy getting slightly stronger as he drove, or weaker when he made a wrong turn.

He wasn’t good at picking up the angels’ energies, for obvious reasons, but slowly he managed to get the demons’ signatures to get increasingly stronger, the more he drove around the city. There was a voice on the back of his mind – his conscience, maybe? – that kept reminding him he was probably walking into a trap, but Daniel did what he did best and ignored the warning voice. Eventually, after driving what felt like all of London while he chased the increasing energy signals, he got to a street where he felt the signal was strongest than all the other places he’d been to. It was so strong he was feeling the beginning of a headache just by being there.

Eventually, he got to a house that appeared to be abandoned, and just by being there Daniel knew it was the right place. The energies surrounding the place were so strong he could feel who was inside it without even walking in the place. He frowned and walked out of the car, knowing he was going to be in deep shit if he got inside the place. But he knew it was the only way.

He discovered the front door was open, cause that’s how these things went, usually. So he sighed and stepped inside to face whatever it was that was waiting for him inside.

***


	17. 16

The plan was that he’d go in there and do his best to set the others free – even the angels. Eddie would appear when the situation was close to being controlled so he wouldn’t risk being under the spell’s influence. It was a good plan, except there was a good chance Daniel could die in the process. But he was somewhat okay with it. One of the human emotions that were blooming in his head was selflessness, who would’ve thought.

The place was apparently empty when he got inside it, but he knew better than to believe in appearances. Daniel closed his eyes and focused on the energies he’d felt earlier, and figured the ones he was looking for were in the basement. Never expect a human to be original, after all.

He slowly went down the stairs, knowing full well that he’d only be able to count on his – highly limited, by the way – fighting skills, his gun and a few powers that he didn’t even know if they would be enough to contain whoever was downstairs no doubt waiting for him. But still, he kept going.

Daniel focused on the anger he was feeling. The whole ‘having free will again’ thing was good for that, at least. He hated what was happening, hated that he had to serve as bait just so Eddie could show up and basically save the day while he would just end up as an “unfortunate casualty”. But he knew it had to be done, he knew he had to make the sacrifice. Daniel gripped his gun tightly when he finished walking down the stairs and looked around, taking the place in.

It was a circular room with stone walls, which wasn’t exactly typical for places like these, in the middle of the city. Still, it was expected that the humans would come up with stereotypical shit like that. The room was dark, but thankfully Daniel could see well in the dark, which allowed him to spot the usual magical symbols. Most of it was nonsense, but he supposed it was expected. He could sense the presence of the demons, and followed it through a dim lit corridor. The lack of humans present was getting more worrying with each new step he took.

He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the presence of the angels too. He was definitely not into freeing them, but he knew he had to, for the greater good. He stopped in front of the door where he felt the others’ energies was strongest and tried to open it, not surprised when it didn’t budge. Daniel aimed his gun and fired at the lock a few times to get it open, until he heard a voice near him.

“Don’t bother, it won’t work.”

He looked up and cocked an eyebrow at the human who’d said it, deciding to play along.

“And why won’t it? Are you lot using the victims’ energies to keep it locked?”

“No, we just have enough money to buy quality locks.” The human said, rolling his eyes. “Who are you, anyway?”

He looked at him and chuckled, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, makes sense. It’s not like it is in the movies, and all that. And I assume you have a protective spell around you?” He asked, deliberately ignoring the question.

The man nodded slowly, still looking at Daniel. “Are you one of them? Coming to rescue your dear friends or something?” He asked in a teasing tone of voice. Daniel narrowed his eyes.

“Something like that. Where are the other six?” He asked, knowing he’d have to make it clear that he knew what they were up to. There was no point in playing games.

He was glad that Dianna had told him what she’d found in time. Days after he’d discovered where they were, she’d contacted him to tell she’d made contact with a few other witches and demons who are in her circle of information. According to her, it hadn’t been easy nor pleasant (and he was now owing her) but she had managed to discover that a group of seven mages had been sticking their heads in the wrong places and asking the wrong questions to the wrong people, which led her to do a little bit more research and find out that they were all demonologists. Which meant they knew what they were doing.

“And why would I tell you that, hm?” The man asked, cocking an eyebrow at Daniel.

“Because if you don’t do it willingly I’ll have to use other ways to make you talk.” He shrugged. “So it’s up to you, really. How fond are you of your limbs? Or your general health? Because I can make some very nasty things happen to you.”

“Oh please, that’s such a cliché.” The human rolled his eyes. Daniel really hoped Eddie would show up soon, he wasn’t all that fond of the prospect of having to shoot people. Still, he sighed and did what he could do at the moment.

“Why’d you do it, anyway?” He asked. “You must want something; humans are always wanting something, especially out of us.”

“Why should I tell you, eh? I don’t even know who you are.”

Daniel took his gun and shot him in the foot. Quick, simple. No energy wasted so far. Plus, Daniel could bet the spell was meant to protect the guy from his abilities, but not from more mundane weapons.

“Simple, mate. If you don’t tell me I’ll turn you inside out. But that would be a right mess, so I prefer to keep it simple.” He shrugged, taking his overcoat off. “And you want to know who I am, eh?” Daniel said, before closing his eyes for a moment and groaning while he let his wings come out of his back, tearing the back of his shirt and coat. It still hurt as hell. “I’m what you signed up for.”

He was bluffing, obviously. But he hoped he could at least get to the rest of the humans and do enough damage so Eddie could show up and take the credit for it.

The man widened his eyes when he saw it, but his expression wasn’t one of surprise, exactly. Which made sense, considering that he knew all of them must’ve known what they were in for. The man shook his head, still looking at Daniel from where he’d fallen on the floor.

“Big bloody deal, we have six of the most powerful ones amongst you holding our spell together right now. So each of us can take you down easily.”

“You’re explaining your evil plan to me, mate? Really?” Daniel chuckled. “Just when I thought you lot couldn’t get more stereotypical.”

He was stalling, that much was obvious. He needed to buy some time, but he had to make sure he’d take down at least half the group before he called Eddie. And that was the hard part. So he began focusing even more on what fueled him at the moment: his anger.

He pulled the man up from the floor and began walking, pulling the mage with him.

“You’re telling me where they are, the rest of you lot.”

He walked up until the rest of the corridor and the man told him to go right, so he went left, still pulling the other with him. He kept walking, looking for any doors where the others might be, until he stopped suddenly, when he saw the way was blocked.

The rest of the twats who started that mess were standing there, waiting for Daniel.

He knew he was walking into a trap.


	18. 17

He didn’t have his sword. He knew he should’ve brought it, but something in the back of his mind kept telling him it’d be too much. Maybe it would have been too much.

But what wasn’t too much was the torch close to him. It wasn’t particularly long, but it’d do for what he had in mind. The humans began getting closer so Daniel took the torch and brandished it against them, getting ready to fight. He took a step forward and held it in front of him, now ready to face what he’d have to face as the humans advanced quickly against him. In that moment he particularly hated those people and what they did to him, because right then, he felt a spark of fear. And that spark was dangerous in itself.

In some part of his mind Daniel really thought he’d be able to fight six men relying only on his fists and guns, but that soon proved itself to be unlikely when the humans ganged up on him to start hitting every part of his body they could reach. He groaned when someone hit him in the head and began focusing on his anger again, focusing on the metal of the torch and the fire.

He figured the sight of the metal getting orange from the heat would be enough to get even the most stuck up of those people intimidated, but the risk of getting hit by an incandescently hot piece of metal didn’t dissuade them enough. Until Daniel hit the first one on the head with it.

The human was down, but that still left him to deal with five others, not counting the moron who was lying on the floor from his busted foot. He was lucky Daniel hadn’t shot his knee at that time, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do it now, which he did. One down, five to go.

He brandished the torch against one, but two others decided it was a great idea to grab his wings to keep him from moving. Daniel groaned, feeling angrier, and set his wings on fire to make them move away. The thing was, he’d been right. They’d put up a defensive spell on themselves so the fire wasn’t burning them. He tried to retract his wings again, but the two idiots holding them kept that from happening. And it didn’t help that the three others were punching every bit of him they could reach, kicking the torch away.

He was tired of that. They were treating him like some hopeless human, and he wasn’t that. He was still new to the whole being a full blooded demon thing, but he knew enough. At least enough to be able to get out of a beating. And then it clicked: they were blocking magic, like the one they were using. They were using it in a surprisingly powerful way, but it was still magic, _human_ magic.

Daniel wasn’t human. He didn’t need to use that kind of magic because he had his own powers, though he was still getting used to them. But he knew one thing for certain: demonic magic was definitely more powerful than human. And they had no means of blocking it against them.

He took the chance when one of them was trying to choke him with his bare hands, which was stupid in the first place. Daniel looked up at the man and narrowed his eyes, thinking of what he was about to do. What he should’ve been doing this entire time. He focused on the man’s thoughts, and saw they were filled with hate and fear. It was good, he could use that. Daniel focused some more, meaning to get further inside the man’s thoughts, slipping the idea, the inspiration, the temptation inside it. The man wanted to be the group’s leader, wanted to guide the rest of them but knew he’d have to prove himself first in order to lead. He felt the fear over what messing with a demon could result, and that’s when Daniel knew he’d found the breach.

He made the man see what would happen to him for what he was doing. He carefully inserted the suggestion of the idea into his mind, the idea of giving up on choking Daniel and walking away from all of that. It had been relatively simple, considering the man’s mind wasn’t protected. Then slowly, very slowly, he felt the grip on his neck slipping away and saw the doubt in the man’s eyes. It was all he needed to push him away and get up for enough time to kick the man’s head, rendering him unconscious.

Daniel took the opportunity to get up while the others paused to watch what was happening. He panted as he looked at them, the hate inside him still giving him the strength he needed. But he only had a moment to think of all that, for even though he’d had a split second just to breathe just now, everything was still happening despite the short pause of the attack caused by the display of his powers. He was good, he knew what he was meant to do now. He knew how to deal with that shitstorm.

He retracted his wings again with a groan of pain to make the fight more practical and that gave the last four the opportunity to go at him again. Daniel could feel his skin breaking and his bones moving away to make space for the wings. It was part of who he was, he didn’t know why it hurt so much. Soon enough, he noticed one of the humans was staying away from the fight, in the back. Probably the leader, realizing the shit he was in now. Daniel panted while the remaining three began fighting him again, but fighting three was easier than fighting seven, definitely. He punched the nearest one, his strength increased by his powers, and the man went off flying across the room. That gave Daniel enough confidence to go after the remaining ones, but then he noticed two of them were fighting each other for no apparent reason. And then he noticed Eddie – Belphegor – was there. Bloody timing.

He looked at the fellow demon, who just shrugged like an idiot.

\- I came here to help, mate. Like I’d told you I would.

\- After I already took care of most of them? You useless twat. – Daniel said, before facing the human who appeared to be making the gestures and saying the words to prepare an incantation.

He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward to go face him, but something hit him at the moment. The spark of fear and annoyance again, making him pause for a split second while the thought of how he’d get the others freed flashed through his mind. It was just a split second, but it gave the human time enough to knock him down with a punch and start kicking him viciously.

Daniel was still slightly weak from the previous beating and the whole pulling his wings back in again thing, so getting the shit kicked out of him like that definitely didn’t help him focus to do what he had in mind. He nearly got knocked out when the human kicked his head particularly hard, but it stopped when Eddie pushed the man away by flapping his own newly released wings at him. Daniel looked up at him, noticing Eddie’s were significantly larger than his own and tried not to feel a pang of jealousy.

Still, he had much to do yet. Daniel looked at Eddie as he got up, panting and looking for his gun.

\- Why are you looking for that thing, anyway?

\- He’s protected from magic. – Daniel panted, watching the man trying to get up.

\- You know we can’t kill them. – Eddie told him, cocking an eyebrow. – You’re a bloody demon, do what demons do while I go look for the others, yea?

Daniel saw Eddie walking away down the corridor and looked back at the human, who was facing him after he’d managed to stand up. He could sense his fear and anger, but then again he could also sense his own fear and anger, which helped. Mainly the anger. And the blood dripping from his injuries. That bastard was going to pay.

\- Why’d you do it? – He asked the human. – Risk a war and for what? Just so you can say you did it?

The man looked at him angrily, looking like he was about to cast another stupid spell. Daniel huffed and dissuaded him from the thought by giving him a mental image of the probable outcome of that. He didn’t even know he could do that, but apparently it was part of his newfound abilities. He was starting to get used to them.

\- Forget it, mate. Your spell is broken already anyway, it’s time to face the truth. – He kept talking, while his wounds slowly healed. – You’ve lost and your grand plan was shit. But what I don’t get is, why the fuck did you go through all that trouble of taking angels and demons to get the spell going? How did it affect you?

\- We’re human beings, we have free will, you don’t. – The man said and Daniel frowned. – Our actions are our own, we make our own decisions. So we’re not your bloody puppets that you play with at a whim. So my coven found a way to free ourselves from you lot, and we’ve succeeded. So how does it feel to be responsible for your own actions?

Daniel had to laugh at that. That was exactly why humans needed the external influences in the first place, so they wouldn’t do stupid shit like that.

\- You sound like a toddler, and a stupid one at that. – He said, shaking his head. – What we do is meant to balance things, so you’ll live in a world that was built for you lot, and what do you do with it? You destroy it, without a second thought. You destroy everything you touch, and the few ones who don't do that get treated like they're wrong. That ability for self destruction is all on you people and your free will. Us, we just do our jobs at influencing you twats. But _acting_ on it, that's all on you. You're the ones to blame for what's happening in the world right now, not us. The evil is already inside of you, it's inherent.

The man blinked as he looked at Daniel, looking offended and scared. That bastard really had no idea what was it that he was dealing with, it was almost pitiful. But only almost. That man was responsible for all that chaos that was happening, he couldn't get away with it. But Daniel couldn't kill him, either. Then a thought came to him, that would maybe fix that mess.

\- You poor sod. I can't kill you, but I can't let you go on like this. - He spoke quietly, before closing his eyes. The man started crying, because that's what humans do, they repent after they pulled off shit like that. Daniel looked up and saw Eddie - Belphegor - coming back from freeing the others and knew what was next. With a glance at the other demon, he knew what he'd have to do.

He'd never done it before. He didn't even know how to do it exactly, but there he was, already preparing to get inside the human's mind. Daniel locked his gaze into the other's eyes and it was all he needed to know what he was feeling, thinking, wishing, what his true fears were, everything. He truly understood the human, almost enough to excuse him for what he'd done, but that didn't change the fact that his own rage still pushed him into making the other pay. So he closed his eyes, and began accessing the man's memories, feeling everything he'd felt throughout the years, all the emotions, moments, knowledge, everything.

And then he began erasing them.


	19. 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter, if anyone's reading this. So feel free to leave comments, good or bad, anything you want.

He felt powerful. Daniel knew he had the new abilities, but he'd never felt the need - nor the the desire - to explore them fully. In some ways, a part of him wasn't all that accepting of who and what he was; there were many things in his new status that he didn't agree with, so he never wanted to be the stereotypical demon. Still, it was his job. And like any job, he didn't like it but did it anyway.

But that day, in that moment, he was enjoying it. He could feel the power inside himself, and he was glad in knowing he could do what he was doing. Erasing the human's memories of anything resembling magic and what he'd done. Maybe Daniel would make a few mistakes - he was still learning how to do it, after all - like erasing crucial parts of the man's memories, but it was a risk he took.

That would work, he knew it would. Sure, he couldn't go around messing with people's memories every time something happened that he didn't like, but what he was doing at that moment gave him so much satisfaction that he really wasn't caring. The anger he felt fueled that, anger at the human for having messed with things he didn't even come close to understand. He didn't even notice his own nose had started bleeding and that his legs began feeling weak. He only wanted to make the human pay.

\- I think that's enough, mate.

Daniel was brought back to reality by the sound of Eddie's voice. The fellow demon was standing there watching him, an eyebrow raised while the other took a step back and stopped messing with the human's mind. He noticed the nosebleed and frowned.

\- I had to make sure he wouldn't do it again. - He told the other, wiping the blood from his nose. - And why can't this body handle a little bit more stress, anyway? Fat lot of good these powers are, if the body can't handle them.

Eddie looked at him and chuckled, before looking at the now unconscious human. He looked a lot more relaxed now, though there was still something in his expression that Daniel couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was worry?

\- Well, you got lucky, you did what you just did because the spell didn't wear off completely yet. - Eddie said, shrugging. - But it still might give you problems in the future, you know.

Daniel looked at him and shook his head, before shrugging. He really didn't care about any of that in that moment. He'd done something that wasn't even his job, he'd saved that nasty world. For the time being, at least. How the humans would keep on destroying it, that wasn't his problem.

\- And did you have fun, finding out you're an Ether demon? - Eddie asked and Daniel frowned at him in confusion. - You've spent so long going around complaining that you didn't want to just tempt people, and you make that face when you find out you won't have to?

\- What the bollocks are you talking about? - Daniel asked the other, not having the patience for Eddie's bullshit at the moment.

\- You're an Ether demon, you twat. I thought that was obvious, considering you've been calling yourself _aethe_. You mess with people's minds, but you don't inspire ideas. You deal with what's already inside their minds, their heads, memories and longings. Basically, you bring out the evil that's already inside them, encrusted.

Daniel stared at him, not believing what he was hearing. If he did that, then he was one of the worst kinds of demons that existed.

\- Don't act so shocked, that doesn't mean you're a special unique snowflake. - Eddie told him, his tone inpatient. - It just means you're in a category of demons. Now, can we get moving already? I need to get home and decide how they're going to compensate me for all this.

\- You've helped a lot, but I'm not sure they'll reward you for it. - Daniel told him as they began walking out of the house.

\- Sure they will, I've just prevented a war from happening. Which I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for you, of course.

Daniel stopped limping to look at him, frowning.

\- You mean the other way around, right? You only showed up at the last bloody minute, I'm the one who's had his arse kicked.

\- Yes, but I'm above your rank, so the credit goes to me. - Eddie smirked. - I know, it's not fair, but what'd you expect? It's hell. By the way, do you even have a rank? You could ask that, might give you a few more abilities, like faster healing. I'm surprised you're not healed already, really.

Daniel sighed and continued limping after Eddie, feeling too tired to hate that situation. Plus, Belphegor was his friend, after all. As much as a friend as a demon could be. At the moment, he just wanted to go back home and not have to deal with anyone, human or not, for a long time.

\- Do you think you'll miss it, though? - He asked Eddie. - The free will?

\- Nah, it's too much of a hassle. - the other shook his head. - I might miss getting drunk, though.

He chuckled and they went back to Daniel's car, before driving away from all the chaos and mayhem the humans caused simply by being dumb and egoistical and, at their core, _humans_. It was times like these when Daniel felt he was okay with being a demon.

 

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End file.
